Yesterday I posted about my brainstorm to create a newsletter chock-full of fun cultural things for kids who were adopted from Eastern Europe. I still think it’s a great idea and I’m definitely going to work on it.

The thing is, after 12:30 this afternoon it’s summertime, dear readers, and although Big J has some camps and Little J is going to go to pre-k part time, I’m going to have my kids around me a lot more than during the school year and that’s a great thing! So I need to put my ideas on hold for a while and focus on the main attraction, instead. I do plan to use them as my guinea pigs for fun crafty things I might incorporate in my newsletter.

Meanwhile, here are some activities that already exist on the web that you might like to try at home.

This site (http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/russia.shtml) is not so much a crafty site but more of an activity site. There are worksheets for learning Russian (not in Cyrillic, but through English-based pronunciation guides) and coloring print outs. This would be a good activity site for older children, although the coloring pages are good for any age.

Here’s a site for coloring the Kazakh flag: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/misc/kz-l.gif
Here’s one for the Russian flag: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/misc/ru-l.gifHere’s one for the Bulgarian flag: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/misc/bg-l.gifHere’s one for Ukraine: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/misc/ua-l.gif
Here’s one for Poland: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/misc/pl-l.gifHere’s one for Armenia: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/misc/am-l.gif

This site (http://www.elca.org/countrypackets/russia/crafts.html) has a cute activity where you turn an egg into a rooster. I guess it’s most appropriate for Easter, but you could do it any day. This is the first place I’ve seen it mentioned that in Russia kids turn eggs into roosters for Easter, however, so I can’t vouch for the authenticity of the activity. There’s also an activity for creating a Russian Orthodox cross out of popsicle sticks. Maybe if your kids are going to Vacation Bible School this could be an enrichment activity?

That same site (http://www.elca.org/countrypackets/poland/crafts.html) has an activity for making gwiazdi and wycinanki, which are Polish paper cuts, as well as a Latvian morning star placemat (http://www.elca.org/countrypackets/latvia/crafts.html) and some blue and white plates and willow switch crafts from Slovakia (http://www.elca.org/countrypackets/slovakia/crafts.html)

Here’s another learn Russian site (http://www.elca.org/countrypackets/russia/crafts.html) that looks really great! It has printable posters that include the Cyrillic as well as the English-based pronunciation guides, as well as practice handwriting sheets. Again, probably for 6 and up, but very fun!