International Children’s Day which falls on the first day of summer is one of the most exciting holidays for Russian children. According to the latest census, there are more than 26 million children in Russia.

The decision to hold a feast this day was made by the International Democratic Women’s Federation at a special session in November 1949. The United Nations supported this initiative and declared protection of the rights, life and health of children by one of its priorities. The first International Children’s Day was held in 1950. About 20-25% children constitute a part of the population in every country. In various states there are own children’s problems. In developed countries ― negative consequences of addiction to television and computers. Western Europe is too concerned with early sexual development of children, and Japan is afraid of destruction of the traditional educational methods and a broad penetration of Western habits and behaviors. In the least developed countries in Africa and Asia, children are threatened by famine, AIDS, illiteracy and military conflicts.

Difficult childhood

According to the Ministry for Education and Science, today the number of children in need of a family unit greatly exceeds the number of people wishing to adopt a child. In early 2011, according to the state databank, more than 130 thousand children were left without any care. At the same time, regional and national data banks had 20,000 registered in the bodies of trusteeship and guardianship candidates for adoptive parents, guardians and foster parents.

In late 2011 the law which requires prospective adoptive parents receive specific legal and psychological training, was signed. These requirements will take effect from September 1 this year, and they will help protect orphans from unnecessary moral and psychological trauma experienced by children when the adoptive parents return them back to the orphanage. According to the Ministry for Science and Education, nearly a third of specially trained prospective adoptive parents abandon this idea.

The program and training order to be claimed by executive authorities of the RF regions. Funding for training to be provided from the regional budgets. By the law, foreigners wishing to adopt a child from Russia should also be trained either in their own country or in Russia.

Sweet Home and the parade of prams

Traditionally, International Children’s Day in all the Russian regions is solemnly celebrated. For example, in St. Petersburg on Palace Square a fabulous city with interactive play areas is built for one day. It also will feature a one-story house made of real sweets. They used more than 30 kilograms of chocolate to construct such a house. According to the authors of the project, children can draw a picture or write requests with their dreams and “settle” them in this sweet little house. In the North Caucasus, Barnaul, Kazan, and Bryansk, parades of prams to take place. All the prams to be transformed into tanks, coach cabins, huts on fowl’s legs, some will have funny tails and ears, while others ― gardens of flowers on four wheels.

Children's carnival “World upside down, or all the way around” will be held in Krasnoyarsk. According to the organizers, the participants of the march should line up in columns of seven different colors of the rainbow ― each color to match different age. They promise to organize a massive show of soap bubbles and use the “generator of the clouds” at the carnival.

In Tomsk, Children’s Day to be celebrated by the traditional championship for running in crawlers. Kids aged 8 to 12 months to participate in the competition. According to the organizers, the conditions are simple: all the participants are divided into small groups of three, after which the small “runners” to crawl a distance without the help of adults.

Within the international festival “The Mirror”, Ivanovo to host the first exhibition of children’s photographs Ivan’s childhood dedicated to Andrey Tarkovsky. Moscow Circus will give a great charity show for local orphans and children from large families.

Informative and entertaining program “A Celebration of Childhood” to take place at The Vasnetsov Brothers Art Museum, Kirov. The guys will be able to go on virtual tours around Russian museums, paint Vasnetsov’s fairy tale characters on the computer, participate in a contest to collect puzzle images and paintings by Vasnetsov, and take part in some workshops for arts and crafts.

Young activists from Belgorod announced a flash mob on the platform near Svetlana Khorkina’s sports complex in social networks. They want to arrange a water battle, to hold a dance master class and evening pioneering exercises.