Spring was in the air on March 1st as the Foundation held its first “Spring Around the World” workshop! At first, the children seemed a little nervous as they gathered to listen to American, Ukrainian, and Japanese staff members speak about spring traditions from their home countries. The participants learned interesting new facts about these cultures. For example, in America, they have an Easter egg tradition because baby birds are born from eggs in the springtime. In Ukraine, people make dolls as a protective charm for their families. As for Japan, well, springtime is cherry blossom season, of course!

After the talk, everyone got to experience American, Ukrainian, and Japanese culture through making spring handcrafts together. While nimbly moving their hands and exercising their imaginations, the children made American Easter eggs, Ukrainian dolls, and Japanese cherry blossoms. Their nervous tension melted away like ice beneath the warm spring sun. In the final part of the workshop, the atmosphere became very lively as everyone competed in teams in an Easter egg race, passing the eggs from one member to the next. The fastest team was awarded with special medals.

Every country has its own unique traits when it comes to celebrating spring, but regardless of those differences, spring is a season of celebrating new life everywhere across the world. During the workshop, that became clear as everyone experienced both the similarities and differences of spring across the globe! Afterwards, we received many responses from participants, such as, “I had fun!”, “I became more interested in other countries’ cultures.”, and “I want to join this workshop again!”. Thank you so much to everyone who took part in this special day!