June 12, 2011 - Russia Day


The largest part of the Soviet Union was Russia, and when the Soviet Union broke up, Russia adopted a Constitution and a new flag, declaring itself the Russian Federation on June 12, 1990.

This is the first Russian nesting doll.
One of my favorite aspects of Russian culture is the matryoshka or nesting doll. Nowadays you can find modern nesting dolls of things such as Winnie-the-Pooh and cats, but even the old fashioned matryoshka aren't as old as you might think; the craft began in some workshops near Moscow in 1890.

Watch the hand-carving of nesting dolls, using a lathe. 

Make some nesting dolls!

You can use paper cups,  or you can buy blank nesting dolls and paint them any way you want.




For more...

To learn more about Russia, check out the BBC News' profile

Enchanted Learning has a variety of resources, including Russian map activities and worksheets that teach beginning Russian language. 

And Kids' Culture Center has a lot of links to explore a lot of Russian topics. 

No comments:

Post a Comment