U is for Ukrainian Easter Eggs: Themed Activities

In high school I acquired a book about Ukrainian Easter Eggs (pysanky

 after seeing them at a Caravan Pavilion with my mom. We had wonderful memories of going to explore the world on our doorstep. We took the bus across the city to travel from Greece to Israel to Ireland to Trinidad over the course of the ten day event.  We immersed ourselves in the foods, crafts and arts of these lands. Occasionally it was crowded and minimal but overall it was enriching and delightful. I purchased the tools to create the Ukrainian eggs and the book to learn the designs and had a wonderful time attempting to recreate their works of art. I don't think I came close but my mom kept them in her china cabinet for over two decades afterwards. The picture is a sample pattern as a sample for you.

This positive cultural experience, however minor, provided me with a connection to the Ukraine that remains to this day. It is a reminder of the importance of exposing children to different people and cultures to build unity and comprehension of what makes us unique as well as what brings us together. We want to appreciate the artistic talents and styles of each people group and celebrate their culture's positive highlights just as we want to celebrate our own accomplishments.

When you want to use Ukrainian Easter Eggs as a theme, what else can you bring into the 'lesson' to broaden the experience? The news is showing a lot of the challenges of the people at this time. Knowing its history, politics, religion and socio-economic situation may come up in conversations following certain news items but is not our focus. We would rather celebrate other aspects of the culture. We may want children to be able to identify Ukraine's national colours (blue and yellow) and their flag. We may want them to connect them to the nesting dolls (matryoshka) they hand paint or their lacquer boxes. We could try to make a simple ragdoll as they make or try our hand at embroidery for which they are so famous. We could also make a vilot which is a headband with flowers and ribbons for girls to wear or a wooden whistle called a sopilka reed that boys often carry. For those who like music, they can play it to the tune of a Ukrainian folk song.  Our children may also enjoy their folktales such as Jan Brett's retelling of The Mitten, or the story of Pan Kotsky or The Little Straw Bull. They may want to then write a folktale of their own!

Another direction is to start with colouring in the picture of the Ukrainian egg above and move on from that to dyeing and painting your own Easter eggs and talking about your own traditions. You may want to suggest an Easter egg hunt. Is it for a chocolate egg or is it for a plastic egg with a toy inside or is it for eggs with sight words on them to practice reading skills? Do you want to count the eggs? Do you want to move on to real eggs and recipes for them to help with? How can they participate in cooking and eating eggs? Where do eggs come from? Where do hens live? What song do you know about a farm? What other animals live on that farm? What sounds do they make?  You can go as far and wide as you want in any number of directions when you start with a single interest. Start with what is of interest to you or to your child and expand on it to teach them something new. Try to keep them engaged by choosing connections that will interest them as well as extend their knowledge and skills. If you are also able to include something that builds their connections and appreciation for others and their cultures, that would be an added bonus leading to a better educated and more compassionate generation.