Russian/Ukrainian Folktale Room

What's Happening

Experience the culture and lifestyles of Russia and the Ukraine as you explore the home of Baba Yaga, a character from a traditional Russian folktale. Read stories from these other cultures and act them out. Find where we live on the world map and compare the United States and the countries of Russia and the Ukraine.

Discovery Questions & Experiments

Try This

As you enter the folktale room, notice the map on the wall. Find the United States, the Ukraine, and Russia. How does the size of the United States compare to the Ukraine? How does it compare to Russia?

Try This

Go to Baba Yaga's house. Look at the items on the shelves in the house. Do you see things that you use in your own home? Are there things that you've never seen before? How does the lifestyle of someone from the Ukraine differ from people in the United States?

Try This

Read the story of Baba Yaga. Act it out with some friends!

Try This

Look at the signs in the exhibit. Look at the words written in Russian and Ukrainian. Can you read any of the words? See if you can learn some words in one of those languages.

Try This

Look at the story wall. Fill in the blanks in the story with the magnetic words provided, then act out the story. Think of some other words to use in the blank spaces.

Create Something

At Home

Make some nesting dolls!

Russian wooden dolls within larger dolls are called matryoshka. This word has the Latin root "mater" which means "mother." The first nesting dolls were made in Russia at the end of the 19th century. Most nesting dolls are painted to look like people. However, animals and other shapes are also found.

To make a simple set of nesting dolls, you will need to find some small boxes of different sizes. Decide if you want them to be people, animals, or a combination of both. Using markers and other supplies, decorate the boxes to look like people or animals. For example, a very small box could be a bug. The next size up could be a bird, then a cat, etc.

When you are finished, each smaller box should nest inside a larger box. Have fun creating different sets of nesting dolls!

At School

Materials:
Rechenka's Eggs, by Patricia Polacco; paper; pencils; markers or crayons.

How to:

1. Read Rechenka's Eggs to the class, having them pay special attention to the pictures of the buildings and the eggs.
2. After finishing the story, review the illustrations of the onion domes on the buildings. Ask if they have seen domes like this on any buildings here in the United States.
3. Now review the illustrations of the eggs. Give each student paper and markers or crayons. Have the students draw the outline of an egg on the paper and then draw and color a design onto the egg.

Academic Concepts:

Social Sciences - Geography, Physical & Cultural Characteristics of Places
The Arts - Create, Present, Perform