Today’s world culture for kids post is all about Latvia, courtesy of Zane of Kruminu Dienas. Check out these three posts from her blog: a clever pinboard activity, bright bracelets, and (yes, it’s early, but this post is lovely so I couldn’t resist) this wonderful collection of Advent activities! Zane’s blog is written in Latvian, but you can translate her posts for free using Google translate – and she includes excellent pictures as well!
About Latvia:
Latvia is a small, beautiful country on the coast of the Baltic Sea, in Eastern Europe.
Latvia is home to just over 2 million citizens, and nearly half of those live in the capital of Latvia – Riga.
What do Latvians love most of all? I guess that would be singing and dancing. Every five years an amazing festival takes place – the Song and Dance festival. Imagine a choir of 15000 people, all dressed in national costumes coming together to sing. That’s a fascinating event both for locals and tourists!
What I like most about living in Latvia is all four seasons – quite cold and snowy winters, beautiful springs, warm, sometimes even hot summers and very colourful autumns.
In winter we love to ski and skate, and sledging. We also build snowmen and have snow fights.
Spring is for breathing in the fresh warm air, watching the flowers grow, jumping, joking and having all kinds of fun!
In summers we go swimming, hiking, flower picking and spend a lot of time at the seaside.
Autumn is my favourite season. With that special aroma in the air and wonderful dusk in the afternoons, all of those colourful fallen leaves and the endless possibilities of fun they provide – you just can not resist fall!
And then there is the seaside. In any season. We like it there, always!
Another thing about Latvia that you should know – there are no sharks, no crocodiles, no Tze-tze flies, nor lions (only in the Zoo). So it’s always safe to go for a swim in almost any river, pond or beach. There also are no tsunamis, tornados, earthquakes or volcanoes. So – a perfect place for kids and grown-ups.
Zane is currently a “stay at home mom” to her three kids and a perfect wife to her husband. She used to work as an auditor but has left the field for now. Zane enjoys reading, writing and dancing in her spare time.
Thank you, Zane, for this introduction to beautiful Latvia! Maybe someday I will be able to visit in the autumn – my favorite season as well!
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
HI,
I am coming this June. When is that singing and dancing festival due? Where is it held please?
One of my friends from church is originally from Latvia, and she has the most delightful accent when she speaks.
I love to see pictures of the country.
No crocodiles and tsetse flies – I’m sold! It looks like a lovely place to live. I really enjoyed your beautiful photos of the change of seasons too! Those flower wreaths are so sweet!
I thought of you when I saw the no tsetse flies bit!
Beautiful! Places with all four seasons really encourage us to make the most of them.
I agree! I think seasons also help us to remember that time is passing and so we need to make the most of every moment.
Thanks for telling us about your beautiful country. We have a friend from Latvia.
Latvia looks beautiful. I have a Latvian friend in Boston (Jana) and she knows every single Latvian in this area. It’s wonderful how they all work to stay connected and to pass on their cultural traditions. Jana teaches Latvian to kids at a weekend school for that very reason. They have a strong cultural identity!! That’s so wonderful!
That is fantastic! I think that preserving culture is very valuable.