Figure 1.--Here we see Russian children at their New Years party in 1977. The look to be 1st or 2nd graders. They don't look dressed for winter weather. The white knee socks suggests that they did dress up. The sailor caps suggest that they may be at a school near a naval base. In the 1930s-50s, Stalin's portrait might have been on the wall. After the the 1956 20th Party Congress (De-Stalinization), it was usually Lenin's portrait.

One popular activity at Russian schools is class parties. These parties are held at all levels although the celebrations and type of activity of course vary wih the levelas appropriate with the age of the children. We note different kinds of parties. Here we are not taking about formal celebrations, like First Day events. Rather here we are talking about parties usually held in classrooms. There are seasonal parties such as New Years and Winter parties. winter parties are basically Christmas parties, but since Soviet times with religion excluded. There are also national celebration parties. A third type of party are education based such as graduation parties. There are nursery school leavingparties. The most remarkable are the teenagers graduating frim highschool. Russian streets on this day are filled with now thousands of ex-school children, both boys and girls who invade streets of Russian cities to dance and party. The most remarkable tradition asociated with this day is to jump into the the city fountains. This might be classified as a celebration, but is completely outside the school and the stidents have turned it into a kind of city-wide party. We note both fancy dress and the children dressing formally for the parties. Russian children appear to dress more formally than is common in Western countries, especially modern schools. This seems to be the case for a variety of class parties. The Russian class on the previous page is having a party. I'm not sure just what they are celebrating. The boys are all wearing suits. Some of the girls have dressed up for the occassion, but not all of them. That seems a bit curious. Our experience is that usually it is the girls who want to dress up. Some of the parties are school events such as an end of year party. Other parties are for major holidays such as New Years. We are not sure about the different holiday dor which class parties were held. Nor or we sure what kind of activities and games were organized at the parties. There were good things to eat. We see sit-down arrangements for the refreshments. Here we see Russian children at their New years party in 1977 (figure 1). The look to be 1st or 2nd graders. They don't look dressed for winter weather. The white knee socks suggesrs that they did dress up. The sailor caps suggest that they may be at a school near a naval base.

Class Level

One popular activity of schools around the world is class parties and Russia is no exception. Pparties are held in all primary grades. We are less sure about secondary schools. The celebrations and type of activity of course vary wih the class levels as appropriate with the age of the children. We note different kinds of parties held in the class room are with class groups. They were both seasonal holidays like New Years which was a kind of Christmas celebrtion--without the religious aspects. Since the fall of Communism (1991), we are no sure if this has evolved. . Christmas has to be the favorite kid holiday in West. We are not sure about Russian kids. There were also patriotic themes like Lennin's bithday, May Day, and the October Revolution. These are a little more difficult to appeal to the younger children. Most of the class party photogaphs we have found are the younger children. I suspect that the schools and parents thought they werre more photogenic, butt we hope to find images of the oldr children's parties aw well.

Types of Parties

There are seasonal parties such as New Years and Winter parties. winter parties are basically Christmas parties, but since Soviet times with religion excluded. There are also national celebration parties. A third type of party are education based such as graduation parties. There are nursery school-leaving parties. The most remarkable are the teenagers graduating frim highschool. Russian streets on this day are filled with now thousands of ex-school children, both boys and girls who invade streets of Russian cities to dance and party. The most remarkable tradition asociated with this day is to jump into the city fountains still wearing their school uniform.. This might be classified as a celebration, but is completely outside the school and the students have turned it into a kind of city-wide party.

Dressing Up

We note both fancy dress and the children dressing formally for the parties. This depends slmewhat on the level of the class and type of party. Russian children appear to dress more formally than is common in Western countries, especially modern schools. This varies somewhay because many clothes have uniforms. This has varied over time. This seems to be the case for a variety of class parties. The Russian class on the previous page is having a party. I'm not sure just what they are celebrating. The boys are all wearing suits. Some of the girls have dressed up for the occassion, but not all of them. That seems a bit curious. Our experience is that usually it is the girls who want to dress up. Some of the parties are school events such as an end of year party. Other parties are for major holidays such as New Years. We are not sure about the different holiday dor which class parties were held. Nor or we sure what kind of activities and games were organized at the parties. There were good things to eat. We see sit-down arrangements for the refreshments. Here we see Russian children at their New years party in 1977 (figure 1). The look to be 1st or 2nd graders. They don't look dressed for winter weather. The white knee socks suggesrs that they did dress up. The sailor caps suggest that they may be at a school near a naval base.

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Created: 6:48 AM 10/7/2009
Last updated: 3:28 PM 2/5/2017