Father Frost's Birthday: the history of the holiday, its traditions, poems, crafts

Every child knows the kindest grandfather in the world, who brings gifts to all the children, from early childhood. Santa Claus does not forget about a single child, he brings everyone under the Christmas tree what they ask him for. But what about grandfather himself? Is he really left without gifts at all? To restore justice and thank the beloved character, not long ago they began to celebrate the Birthday of Santa Claus. The history of the holiday does not go back many years, so let's figure out what kind of holiday it is and where it came from.

The history of the emergence of the holiday "Santa Claus's Birthday".

For a long time, no one even knew about Santa Claus's birthday. But it was found out that this fairy-tale wizard also has “his own” date, with which you can determine the age of your favorite character. It is impossible to give an exact figure, but experts say that the hero is more than two thousand years old. He celebrates his birthday on the eighteenth of November. At this time, the legendary good magician is in Veliky Ustyug, where his patrimony is located.

On November 18, Russia officially celebrates the birthday of Father Frost. It is not known for certain how old the winter wizard is, but it is certain that he is more than 2000 years old. The children themselves came up with the date of the birth of Father Frost, since it is on November 18 that real winter comes into its own on his estate - in Veliky Ustyug - and frosts strike. Interestingly, in 1999 Veliky Ustyug was officially named the birthplace of the Russian Father Frost.

Father Frost's birthday has been celebrated since 2005. It was then that the date was officially announced and put into circulation. Why was this particular number chosen? The whole point is that at this time the first severe frosts begin in Veliky Ustyug. By the way, modern Santa Claus is forced to keep up with the times, so he is also mastering new technologies - now he receives letters from children by e-mail, and also blogs on social networks and communicates with his colleagues by cell phone.

Despite the fact that the date is very young and not everyone knows about it, everyone is familiar with the character himself. Plus, the history of this wizard goes back a long way. It is complex and interesting, because after the revolution at the beginning of the last century, the personality of Grandfather Frost was completely banned for several years.

Officially, this day began to be celebrated in 2005. Of course, November 18 is not the real date of Father Frost's birthday. This number was chosen because it is believed that from this day in the homeland of Father Frost in Veliky Ustyug, real winter begins. On this day, many guests come to the birthday boy and festive festivities are held. Not only children and their parents come to congratulate Father Frost, but also his relatives (Chiskhan - Yakut Father Frost, Santa Claus, Mikulas - Czech Father Frost) and other fairy-tale characters. Also on November 18, near the tower of Father Frost, the first New Year tree is lit with lights. All these events can be seen on the official website of Santa Claus. Yes, yes, Father Frost has his own website - the House of Father Frost in Veliky Ustyug official website. He also has his own coat of arms and flag and even his own television.

A very interesting fact is that in different periods of history, Santa Claus was treated differently. They banned him, they worshiped him, they tried to replace him with another character. There is an opinion that the prototype of Santa Claus is St. Nicholas. However, it is not. Since ancient times, the Slavs have revered the God of Winter as one of their main gods. He had different names - Karachun, Zimnik, grandfather Treskun, Morozko, Studenets. Moroz did not always appear to be a kind grandfather. Sometimes he punished the guilty. However, he always had a kind and warm heart.

During the time of Christianization, they tried to replace Moroz with St. Nicholas, since the veneration of the deity and the name day of this saint almost coincided.

In the first years of the Soviet government, it was forbidden to celebrate not only the New Year, but also to mention, in general, fairy-tale characters, considering this a relic of the past and religious prejudices. Father Frost appeared only in 1937, accompanied by his granddaughter Snegurochka. Since then, he has been the main character of all New Year's holidays.

Nobody knows exactly how old the good old man is. Some sources say that his age is at least two thousand years old, others call the figure from one and a half to two thousand, and you can even start counting from the moment when the grandfather acquired his modern image. In fact, it’s not so important how old grandpa turns, what’s important is that he doesn’t forget to make the kids happy.

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Over the centuries, he bore different names: at first it was the East Slavic spirit of cold Treskun, and he was not at all kind, he could freeze with just one glance, so sacrifices were made to him to allow him to survive the winter. Then he transformed into the hero of the fairy tales Morozk or Moroz Ivanovich, who began to more closely resemble the kind grandfather we know. In its modern form, the character appeared together with his granddaughter Snegurochka in the Moscow House of Unions in 1937, at the Christmas tree festival.

Do you know that the Snow Maiden also has a birthday and is celebrated in Kostroma on April 8?

Predecessors of Santa Claus

In the modern world, this character is the personification of good forces. But it was not always so. His predecessors were not particularly generous and kind to people. Treskun, Karachun, Zimnik, Morok and Studenets - these were the names of the ancestors of Father Frost. Their names aroused wild fear in people.

In ancient times, an old man with a bag was usually considered a bad omen. To prevent an uninvited guest from appearing in the village, people sacrificed girls. At that time, they were of no value because they could not work much and were just extra mouthfuls (there was little food, and in winter there was practically no food).

Thus, the image of Father Frost personified an evil old man from the northern land of the Dead; the Christmas tree became a symbol of the tree that gives immortality, to which they tied the poor girl, who became the prototype of the Snow Maiden.

Legend has it that Treskun has always terrified people. Its severe frost killed people and animals and destroyed crops. The people tried in every possible way to appease the evil spirit with conspiracies, gifts and food. However, this did not always help against the destructive cold of Treskun. Karachun reigned underground. His powers froze the waters, springs, rivers and soil.

Villagers were afraid to meet Karachun, because meeting him foreshadowed trouble. Zimnik, according to legend, was an ordinary old man with a long beard. He always had a heavy mace in his hand, which turned everything it touched into ice. Soon oral folk art appeared, from which we learned kinder heroes: Moroz the Voivode, and later Moroz Ivanovich. In the end, all these heroes turned into the image of the most important wizard, Santa Claus.

Where and how to celebrate

Magnificent festivities take place in the homeland of Father Frost - in the village of Veliky Ustyug.
Grandfather’s colleagues from other countries come here every year, as well as delegations and tourists who want to congratulate the wizard and wish him all the best. The main events take place on the central square of Veliky Ustyug, and the culmination of the action is the lighting of the lights on the very first New Year tree of the year.

At the end of the holiday, grandpa begins a tour of the cities of Russia, where, together with the children, he will light the lights on numerous New Year trees, because the main holiday of the year will come very soon.

Manufacturing technology

We take brown paper, black will do, and cut out tree trunks and branches. The branches can be made large or medium, depending on the size of the application. Then take a piece of white paper and cut out a wide strip, but not completely straight. This will be on our appliqué ground, which is very densely covered with snow. You can make several dozen white snowflakes from leftover white paper. Apply a little glue to the cardboard and apply a white stripe. Add tree trunks on top. If you use cotton wool as an additional material, then glue the whole trunks and branches, and cotton balls on top. Instead of cotton wool, you can use cotton pads. Then glue only the base of the trunk, and the cotton pads under the branches. Let all the parts dry completely and then glue the snowflakes at your discretion. So how? Isn't it very beautiful? Santa Claus will appreciate it. The entire composition can be sprinkled with white silver sparkles.

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Congratulations and gifts

Traditionally, a mailbox is placed on this day, into which anyone can drop a greeting card, a letter, or just a note with wishes to their grandfather. However, modern Santa Claus keeps up with the times, and in addition to the traditional one, he also has an email where those who were unable to come to visit the wizard can send wishes. Grandpa also has pages on social networks. Moroz sorts out all the congratulations and re-reads them personally, not a single one goes unnoticed.

If we talk about gifts, every year the assistants of the famous grandfather give him an outfit, generously embroidered with embroidery, fur, decorated with rhinestones, so that the fairy-tale character can appear in all his beauty before the children, congratulating them on the New Year. The traditional outfit is red with white trim, but the fur coat can also be blue or white. My grandfather's beard is thick and long.

Children can give their favorite wizard whatever they want. Grandfather will be delighted with any gift presented with all his heart. This could be an interesting New Year's craft or a homemade greeting card, or just sweets.

Preparation

Take a large saucepan, pour in a liter of water, and bring to a boil. While the water is boiling, pour the rice into a cup and rinse it well under running water to remove as much starch as possible. Add some salt to the water and add the rice. Stir immediately to prevent sticking. Cook for about 20 minutes, the rice should become opaque. We also boil chicken eggs. When all the ingredients are ready, finely chop and arrange in layers. It is best to place the salad directly on the dish in which you plan to serve it. The right layer will be rice, then fish.

We form the third layer from avocado sprinkled with lemon juice. The fourth layer will be made of finely chopped seafood, which we mix with mayonnaise. And finally, we make the fifth layer from salmon, cut into thin slices. By the way, I forgot to say: after cooking, wash the rice in cold water and mix with red caviar and two tablespoons of mayonnaise. Place the salad in the form of a mitten. If this is difficult to do by eye, draw a shape on paper and cut it out. Attach to the dish and draw a shape using mayonnaise directly on the plate. Grate the eggs on a coarse grater and sprinkle on the salad. You can decorate such an original dish with herbs. Using mayonnaise and a pastry syringe, draw some snowflakes. If you have cheese, you can cut out a few thin stars. Place the salad in the refrigerator for several hours so that all the ingredients are saturated with mayonnaise and spices.

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Interesting facts about Santa Claus

• Father Frost not only has a granddaughter, Snegurochka, the fairy-tale grandfather also has a wife, whose name is Zimushka;
• In addition to birthdays, there is also an official holiday - Santa Claus Day, which is celebrated on the last Sunday in August;
• According to statistics, children believe in the existence of a kind grandfather until about the age of seven, which means that at about the age of seven, parents should think about how to present the child with the news that this is not a real grandfather, but a fairy-tale character;
• Everyone is used to seeing Santa Claus in a fur coat, but few people know that he has more than one fur coat, and the winter character has so many outfits that a separate room in the estate is reserved for them. There are clothes for every occasion and for all seasons;
• Unlike Santa Claus, who rides a sleigh with reindeer, Father Frost is used to riding three horses. However, our grandfather has a deer, though only one and his name is Leshka. There are sources that claim that Leshka is not a deer at all, but a horse, but grandpa also has a deer named Rudolf;
• There are as many as 12 rooms in my grandfather’s estate. This figure is not accidental - the number of rooms coincides with the number of months in the year;
• in Russia, Father Frost was awarded the honorary title “Veteran of Fairy Tale Labor”;
• Although this is a fairy-tale character, it is believed that his image was taken from a very real person - Nicholas the Wonderworker, who lived in the 3rd century.

In fact, it is not so important whether this hero is an invented one or a real one, what is important is that he annually gives a lot of positive emotions, both to children who are looking forward to gifts and write letters to Santa Claus, and to adults who can immerse themselves in the the atmosphere of a fairy tale and believe in a miracle.

Celebrating Morozko's birthday at the dacha

To congratulate the sorcerer on his birthday, cheer up the whole family and give a fairy tale to children, organize a holiday at home or in the country. Decorate a live Christmas tree in your yard or area. It does not have to be a spruce; any decorative coniferous tree will do: fir, yew, thuja, pine. Fruit trees can also be decorated with balls and garlands.

Decorate your winter garden for the holidays

There must be fairy-tale characters at the holiday. Prepare costumes for adults and children. You can use masks and makeup to create fantastic and unusual characters.

To have a fun day, prepare treats and gifts for Grandfather in advance, and also prepare simple competitions with prizes, for example:

• best paper snowflake;
• funny congratulatory verse to Santa Claus;
• ski racing in the garden;
• the most unusual snowman;
• speed skating down an ice slide.

When planning entertainment, do not forget about the safety of children and adults.

Differences between Father Frost and Santa Claus.

Nowadays, when there is a lot of different information around, and even more different cute New Year's souvenirs, decorations, etc., it is sometimes very difficult to distinguish “ours” from “not ours.” Mixing occurs. Not only children, but also adults get confused. In my opinion, it is important to preserve your history, your fairy tales. After all, they are no worse than foreign ones. To establish the truth, I will give the main differences between Father Frost and Santa Claus.

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Father Frost

1. A hat with fur trim or a boyar's hat.
2. The beard is thick, long to the waist.
3. Warm long fur coat of different colors, belted with a sash.
4. Wears felt boots.
5. Excellent vision.
6. Moves on foot or on a sleigh drawn by three horses.
7. The Snow Maiden helps.
8. Warm mittens on hands.
9. He holds a staff in his hands.
10. Leads a healthy lifestyle.

Santa Claus:

1. Nightcap with a white pompom on the tail.
2. A small beard, curled with ringlets.
3. A short jacket cinched at the waist with a black belt.
4. Wears black boots.
5. Wears round glasses.
6. Travels in a cart pulled by reindeer.
7. Elves help.
8. Light gloves on hands.
9. He doesn't hold anything in his hands.
10. Smokes.

drawings of Father Frost and Santa Claus to determine the differences between them.
The differences between Father Frost and Santa Claus are greater than the similarities. Let's start with them:

• Headdress. Santa has a nightcap, Grandfather has a fur-trimmed hat. Due to the strong climate difference in Russia, a thin cap will not help you warm up from the severe cold. Frost's hat should be embroidered with pearls and silver, have a wide hem and an oval shape.
• Our fairy-tale hero's vision is stronger than that of the European one. The last one wears glasses
• Santa Claus's beard is longer, it reaches the waist, although the classic size is down to the toes. His colleague's is short and spade-shaped
• Cloth. Our Grandfather wears a long fur coat down to his toes in red, blue or white, unlike Santa, who prefers a short jacket only in red because he advertises Coca-Cola. Again, the climatic conditions of the north of Russia require high-quality insulation with a fur coat.
• Shoes. Frost is comfortable only in felt boots, and Klaus is comfortable in boots.
• Grandfather has mittens on his hands, and Santa has gloves. In severe frost, you can only keep warm with gloves
• Our hero has a wide belt European character wears a belt with buckle
• Grandfather holds a staff in his hands, and Santa holds a bag of gifts or nothing. With his staff, our hero covers trees with snow, freezes water, that is, works miracles.
• The bad habit of smoking a pipe is characteristic of many Santa Claus characters. Our character leads a healthy lifestyle
• Way to travel. Santa only rides in a cart pulled by reindeer. Santa Claus prefers to walk, or at least ride in a sleigh driven by three horses.
• Habitat. Santa lives in Lapland in a big house, and Frost lives in a log house in the Siberian wilderness.
• assistants are elves and gnomes, but our Frost is helped by his granddaughter Snegurochka; before the revolution there were angels.

What these New Year's heroes have in common is their origin from a Christian saint named Nicholas, who lived in an ancient Byzantine city. He protected children and patronized them.

In Tsarist Russia, Nicholas the Wonderworker became associated with the hero of the New Year holidays. After the revolution in the last century and persecution of religion and its paraphernalia, the image and name were replaced by Father Frost.

North American peoples had a folklore character who gave gifts to children at Christmas. He came to Europe as Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children. The English translation of his name transformed into Santa Claus.

Father Frost and Santa Claus: difference, differences in appearance, costume, photo

photo of New Year's characters Father Frost and Santa Claus looking at a moose figurine

Let's add a series of photographs of Santa Claus and Father Frost to remember the visual difference between them in appearance.

external differences between Father Frost and Santa Claus, Figure 1

external differences between Father Frost and Santa Claus, Figure 2

external differences between Father Frost and Santa Claus, Figure 3

Who is older, better, cooler, stronger: Father Frost or Santa Claus?

collage drawing “Santa or Father Frost?”

Grandfather Frost is definitely older. This image came to Christianity from pagan times.

Our Santa Claus is also stronger. In addition to his physically developed body, he wields a magical staff. Santa has neither one nor the other.

To answer the question of who is better, you need to decide on the parameters. The same applies to determining the coolness of heroes. For example, Santa Claus is more interesting because he always walks accompanied by his beautiful granddaughter, he is a magician, loves wildlife and takes care of it. Does not obey anyone and does not advertise to anyone. Lives freely and honestly.

Where do Father Frost and Santa Claus live?

photo of Santa Claus's residence at night, top view

Santa Claus lives above the Arctic Circle in a territory called Lapland. By the way, this is the northern part of Russia, Sweden and Finland.

Officially, his residence is considered to be a place located 8 km from the town of Rovaniemi in Finland. An international airport, a large office, an amusement park and a shopping center have been built here. Santa's residence welcomes tourists all year round.

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Since the late 90s of the last century, the city of Bolshoy Ustyug in the Vologda region has been officially recognized as the residence of Father Frost. Before that, she was in Arkhangelsk and on the Kola Peninsula in the Lapland Nature Reserve. Currently, there are representative offices of Father Frost in Moscow and Murmansk.

Preparing the site for Frost Day

The fairy-tale wizard's name day is associated with the arrival of winter, which is why November 18 is nicknamed “Frost Day.” Until this day, gardeners and gardeners are trying to complete all work on the site and prepare the plants for frost.

Trees and shrubs are already in a state of sleep during this period. If you haven’t done this before, tie spruce branches around the trunks to protect them from animals and temperature changes. While the ground is not frozen, hill up the young trunks, sprinkled with soil. After the first frost, you can sprinkle mulch around the tree trunks.

Prepare cuttings for spring grafting and store them in a cellar or basement. Check trees for insect nests.

Bend climbing rose bushes to the ground. The annual flower bed must be removed, and the perennial flower garden must be hilled up, mulched and covered with covering material.

Preparing the garden for Santa Claus's birthday

Do a general cleaning of the beds: remove vegetation, dig up and cultivate the soil. You can sow winter greens and mulch the beds with peat.

Where can Father Frost and Santa Claus meet?

Santa Claus and Father Frost met at a corporate party

• Theoretically, these characters should not meet, since they work in different territories.
• If you play with words and pay attention to their place of residence - Lapland and the Lapland Nature Reserve, then it is logical to assume that they are neighbors.
• In practice, Santa Claus and Father Frost meet at New Year's corporate parties and on the street during the holidays.

If you hear a similar question at a holiday quiz, the correct answers will be:

• at the border, matinee
• in a shopping center, airport
• under the door of your house

Use your imagination and come up with the most extraordinary guesses regarding the meeting place of Father Frost and Santa Claus.

Poems about Santa Claus

Application "Starry Night"

Grandfather will also be pleased with the bright applique. Almost a portrait.

You will need one sheet of red, white, blue, gray, yellow and beige paper, one sheet of purple or dark blue cardboard, scissors and some cotton wool. As you can see from the finished work, there are no difficulties. We draw a figure of Santa Claus on a piece of paper, any figure that you consider the most beautiful. If you're really bad at drawing, you can copy it. Cut out all the parts and glue them on. We cut out snow-covered Christmas trees from a white sheet and apply glue only to the base and center. This will add air to the picture and show that grandpa is really flying above the ground. We decorate the bag with several sparkles. You can also sprinkle a little glitter to show the magic of the night. I think Grandfather Frost will like such a starry night.

Father Frost's birthday. DIY crafts.

Everyone loves to receive gifts on their birthdays and Santa Claus is no exception. I offer you several options for crafts on the theme “Santa Claus”.

Preparing gifts: applique “Snowy Forest”

Grandfather Frost is very fond of appliques as children's gifts. He says that he is always pleased with gifts that help children develop. And applique always develops children's motor skills.

So, to complete this application we will need one sheet of cardboard, colored or white paper, snowflakes, cotton wool and glue. You can cut the snowflakes yourself, or you can buy them ready-made at an arts and crafts store. The application is easy to do.