In order for the Christmas get-togethers scenario to succeed, you need to understand exactly what kind of holiday it is. In addition, it is necessary to know its history and traditions, as well as to understand how church Christmas lights differ from folk and secular ones.
About Christmas time
This is the twelve days of the winter holidays - the decade "from Star to Water", as they said in Russia. Christmas time begins with the appearance of the first star in the sky on Christmas night, and ends with the blessing of water at Baptism. In some areas of Russia, they added to the Christmas time a couple of days following the Baptism, for example in Polesie.
In folk Slavic customs, this celebration came from Christianity. The tradition of celebrating Christmas time was first documented in 373 by Ephraim the Syrian, the theologian and poet. He devoted his description of the festival to his “Thirteen Conversations”. Savva the Sanctified, the creator of one of the first church charters, namely Jerusalem, approved the twelve-day celebration of Christmas time in this document. It happened in 524.
The final rules of the celebration, prescribing the prohibitions of these days, including the marriage, was approved by the Turon Cathedral. It happened in 567. The same document marked the calendar time of the celebrations - from the time of the Nativity of Christ to the Epiphany. Later, the celebration was extended to Baptism.
Curious enough is the fact that a couple of weeks after Christmas coincided with a number of ancient pagan traditions. Moreover, the habit of following them among the people was so strong that the church had to turn to secular authorities for assistance. The result of such appeals became various orders, legislative acts and decrees. Paradoxically, until the overthrow of the autocracy in Russia, a law existed that enacted the ban on Christmas evening and during the Holy Week to “dress up in idol's clothes, have fun, dance and sing idolatrous songs”. That is, in virtually every village, city, volost, and even in St. Petersburg, they violated the laws by arranging Christmas and Christmas celebrations, fairs and gatherings.
What exactly is considered the heritage of idolatry and what is not is the subject of controversy of theologians from the time of the Third Council in Constantinople, which took place in 680-681, to this day. However, all clergymen are unanimous in their opinion that anathema must be betrayed by fortune telling, witchcraft and the performance of pagan rites. But whether or not the clergy have no unity in considering the mummers, buffoons and other fun, traditional for festivities, as the heritage of idolatry or not. And since the church did not have an explanation of what exactly is an “idol's robe” or “idolatrous amusement,” the winter festivities were held without any glance or fear. Although some priests, prone to fanaticism, tried to fight the prevailing folk traditions, but, of course, to no avail.
Where did the name come from?
The very word "Christmas time" is Old Slavonic. It means holy days. Saints are not in church perception. That is, the word "sacred" is more true in meaning. However, historians studying the culture of the Slavs clarify the meaning precisely with the word "saints".
Christmas time in the pre-Christian period was not limited to winter time, but was celebrated in all seasons. Descriptions have survived to this day only of how the Greens and Chervony have been celebrated. Greens were celebrated in early summer, and Chervony - in the spring. The latter coincided with the Christian Easter and for many centuries were celebrated from the Resurrection of Christ to Red Hill. However, by the beginning of the last century, only the winter Christmas time was massively celebrated, that is, days from Christmas to Baptism.
The church name of the twelve festive winter days is “Christmas time”. Often translated into Russian as “Christmas days”. But over time, the word "Christmas time" also entered the church life. Already at the end of the eighteenth century, clergymen called winter holidays that way.
How can I celebrate?
Any Christmas script can be used, but it, of course, should have something in common with the theme of the celebration.
The most popular scenarios for the celebration:
- children’s;
- Adults
- family;
- folklore;
- collective;
- for gatherings.
This holiday can be religiously motivated, or can do without it. This should not be forgotten when choosing or writing a script. Christmas time for children, for example, can be just a fun holiday or carry an educational burden.
How to celebrate for children?
A good script for children's Christmas time must necessarily include a small introduction introducing the child to what they are going to celebrate. You also need to consider what the celebration is: family, with the participation of guests or in kindergarten.
For example, if a family lives on a small street in their own cottage, where neighbors know each other, and all have children of about the same age group, then the scenario of Christmas carol will be ideal. The bottom line is that children go home dressed up in different costumes, sing carols, the texts of which can be easily found in any folklore collection or just come up with. After caroling, the kids receive a treat. That is, the celebration inherently duplicates Halloween, the only difference is in the costumes, various attributes and the need to sing or tell the carol.
But, as a rule, at Christmas time, a script for children is required for educators in child care facilities seeking to take the kids' leisure time.
Preparing for the celebration in kindergarten
The difference between such a holiday and family fun or with the participation of guests is that there are few adults and many children. This nuance should take into account the scenario. Christmas time in the institution can consist of 12 matinees, and can be celebrated once. An important point is the involvement of each child; there should be no "artists" and "spectators" in this holiday.
For the matinee you will need:
- Costumes
- props;
- souvenirs, sweets, fruits and other things that can become a gift;
- carol texts.
Costumes should be discussed with parents so that there are no situations in which several bears, a couple of gypsies come to the mat, and the rest dress up with snowflakes and pirates.
Props need to craft with children in advance. The attributes may be:
- paper garlands;
- snowflakes;
- flashlights;
- Bear profiles
- stars and so on.
Even if the props made by children do not quite correspond to the theme of what the selected scenario requires, the Christmas time for which the kids prepared, worked, will be much better and will be remembered for a longer period than a holiday with rented or acquired attributes.
The words of the carols must also be learned in advance, along with the children analyzing their contents and meaning, and not to bring home a printout of the text with the requirement to memorize it. With this approach, an introductory part is not needed on the matinee itself. Children will get an idea of the holiday while preparing for it.
Christmas party with or without street fun
Such a scenario can be used as the basis for children's Christmas time.
Adults:
- Mistress Winter;
- Baba Yaga;
- goat;
- Angel;
- buffoon.
Children's roles are distributed according to the costumes. Scenery is not required, with the exception of the table and the samovar, or anything that can replace it. Winter begins the holiday, she goes to the table, sits down and says:
“It got a lot of snow, Christmas made a noise. You can sit quietly, there is no one else to make noise. ”
A knock at the "door", the rest of the adults enter, except for the Angel, and they make a noise:
“Hello Zimushka-Winter, Kolyada has come to you. Invite to the table, pour tea, get out the presents. ”
Winter: “What is this Kolyada? I won’t open the gate. ”
Adults sit at the table.
Goat: “If you don’t open the gate, I’ll put them on the horns, I’ll take them to a pure field and I won’t return them back.”
Skomorokh and Baba Yaga: "Do not swear among themselves, take a bunk."
Children come in, sing or read carols. Children enter the corridor one or two. After the performance of the carol, the child is given a gift, and the child remains in the hall. When the last child enters, all the children stand around him in a semicircle. The child says:
“On a bright Christmas holiday, an asterisk came down from the sky. This angel was cheerful, he stayed on the ground. We helped to prepare the holiday. "
Goat: "Where is the angel?"
Children: "In the yard."
An angel comes in.
On this, the matinee can be finished. And you can all get dressed and go outside, where you will need to hold a competition: to make snow angels, little snowmen, huts and more. The angel will begin to evaluate the results and give out prizes. At this stage, the parents join the active part of the fun, before that they played the role of spectators. After street fun, everyone takes a seat to drink tea - both children and parents. After tea drinking, go home.
How to celebrate for adults?
The "Christmas time for adults" scenario should be made up or chosen taking into account the number of participants, as well as their age and gender. What will be the perfect holiday for the company of “marrying” girls is absolutely not suitable for a party of colleagues or a home evening for older people.
If you are going to celebrate the winter Christmas with a girl’s company, the scenario is best chosen with fortune-telling. The essence of the celebration is simple: you should get together in the late evening and carry out various fortune-telling, pre-selected in a thematic collection. This is the method of holding the holy time that is traditional in Russia.
However, the celebration can be varied. You should start at six or eight in the evening, tell fortunes and most importantly, write down two predictions for the coming night. One is for itself, the other is for one of the girls present. Then you should go to a nightclub, and take a walk along the way, wondering in "street ways." For example, you can:
- throw shoes; they should be purchased in advance;
- ask names of passers-by;
- whirl with closed eyes at intersections.
The next evening, it’s worthwhile to get together again and compare the recorded predictions with what really happened. Thus, all the days of the holidays can be turned into comic merry Christmas time, the script or entourage for which is not required.
How to hold a corporate party?
For celebration, the working team does not need to rent a restaurant, these days one should move away from commonplace. If you want to hold a corporate event, you can use the script for the folklore holiday of the Christmas time. There are two options for organizing: hire leading artists and distribute roles among employees and organize costume rental. The latter is more preferable because it makes passive rest active.
The scenario of the holiday of Christmas time in folklore style will require:
- rent of a country recreation center for two days;
- costume rental - from Russian folk to carnival;
- organization of a small fair;
- the purchase of letters or souvenirs to holiday participants.
The first day includes:
- fun fair;
- street Russian cuisine;
- active games.
As an active game, the scenario of the holiday of the Christmas time suggests engaging in competitions:
- team fights with snowballs;
- the construction of fortresses and much more.
For example, sculpting snowmen can be varied. To do this, require the participants to sculpt not one, but scenes from the life of snowmen. You don’t have to worry about the program, the participants will entertain themselves. The only thing that should become a mandatory requirement is coming to the fair in a suit. This is an important psychological moment; it is not in vain that they wear a uniform or limit corporate requirements for appearance. Clothing creates a mood. Of course, you can hire mummers - buffoons with balalaikas, bears, goats and other traditional holy characters will not be superfluous.
The second day should pass more calmly, but in the same vein as the first. You can end the holiday with a sacred cracker salute.
What you need not to forget?
Regardless of whether an adult corporate party or a children's party is held, one should not forget about a number of things without which the holiday will become incomplete. We are talking about souvenirs for participants, certificates and photographers. Souvenirs are needed as prizes for participating or winning in any of the competitions. Sweets or fruits are suitable for children, and trinkets for adults. Memorial letters are an indispensable attribute just like a postcard. They should be distributed to everyone. The text can be absolutely anything, for example: “(name), participant of the Holy Festivities, (date)”.
The photographer must also be at the event. This will allow you to get a live chronicle of what is happening. Pictures can later be arranged into albums and distributed to participants. This will please both children and adults. Another argument that speaks of the need for photographing: the celebration takes place in costumes and with thematic attributes. Not every day there is an opportunity to be photographed in the dress of a bear or buffoon, so you should not miss this opportunity.
How to celebrate Christmas time?
The scenario of get-togethers for Christmas time implies a family evening out. In the old days, with such leisure, thematic readings were arranged. The tradition can be taken as a basis and spent in the evenings by family Christmas Christmases, the script of which does not require serious preparation.
For evenings you will need:
- candles;
- thematic table setting;
- room decoration.
A table for tea after dinner should be served in the Russian style, that is, wooden Khokhloma or winter gzhel, a samovar, and so on should be used.
In this case, the decoration of the room should be understood as the Christmas theme, supplemented by elements of Christmas time. If the family has children, then decorations for the room and table need to be done to them. This will add special value to the evenings. The gatherings themselves boil down to the fact that everyone involved tells a holy story. Of course, this will require training, young children or family members who are constantly working at work will need to be helped. The most important thing in organizing a family gatherings is the participation of the whole family in them.