Projects

For almost ten years, from late November until Christmas, Malsena invites kindergarten and school children to participate in a free educational Christmas Eve cookie baking programme.

Christmas Eve cookies are a Traditional Lithuanian meal for Christmas Eve dinner. According to tradition Christmas Eve cookies should be baked at home on Christmas Eve, or the day before, as this meal acquires meaning when you make it with your own hands. During the educational programme the children get in touch with tradition and learn how to bake crispy Christmas Eve cookies, which they can bring home along with the recipe. We hope that after participation in the programme children will start baking Christmas Eve cookies with their parents and the tradition of Christmas Eve cookies will not fade from Lithuanian homes.

The programme is held in the classrooms at Malsena (in Vievis). The Head of the programme and Jadvyga, the Technologist of our baked goods greet the children, teachers and parents here. Together they explain to the children how to mix the dough for Christmas Eve cookies, roll it easily and form amazing Christmas Eve cookies.

After putting the Christmas Eve cookies into a radiating oven the children are taught about the grinding process, and the mill located here, in the classroom is started. The little ones play fun games, and the older ones are taught to distinguish various grain cultures and grinding products – flour, bran and semolina.

We are very excited that we’re able to educate many Christmas Eve cookie makers – this year we had 1.5 thousand school children! The Christmas Eve cookies baked would be enough to form a line of around 7000 m, which would weigh a whopping 300 kg!

In 2016 the honourable title of little Christmas Eve cookie makers was awarded to children from the schools and kindergartens of:

Vilnius – 446 little bakers, with a line of 1,784 m, weighing 90 kg;

Vievis – 314 little bakers, with a line of 1 256 m, weighing 63 kg;

Kaunas – 149 little bakers, with a line of 596 m weighing 30 kg;

Elektrėnai – 90 little bakers, with a line of 360 m weighing 18 kg;

as well as Kaišiadorys, Lentvaris, Pylimai, Rumšiškės, Trakai, Trakų Vokė and Ukmergė.

Information for the ones wishing to bake Christmas Eve cookies:

• the educational programme takes place in December;
• a group of up to 30 children can participate;
• registration starts early September;
• the educational programme is free.