We celebrate Defender of the Fatherland Day on February 23rd. On this day, it is customary to congratulate all men and glorify such qualities of the strong half of humanity as courage, fortitude and courage. Previously, this day was called the Day of the Soviet Army and Navy. There are different theories about the origin of this holiday, which historians argue to this day.
Why do we celebrate Defender of the Fatherland Day on February 23
The roots of this holiday date go back to 1918 during the First World War, since it was at that time that the decrees on the creation of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA) and the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Fleet (RKKF) were signed. The young Soviet state needed an army for defense.
The Red Army was founded on January 28, and the RKKF on February 11. Another important event is connected with the date of February 23 - on this day the Red Army won a major victory over the German troops near Pskov and Narva. But some historians have questioned this fact, including it in the category of fables, since there is no documentary evidence for this.
References to this battle began to appear much later. The year 1922 was marked by the signing of the Decree on the solemn celebration on February 23 of the fourth anniversary of the creation of the Red Army.
In 1923, a pompous celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Red Army took place. After that, a large-scale national holiday began to be celebrated annually on February 23.
In 1946, the holiday was renamed the Day of the Soviet Army and Navy.
In 1995, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted the federal law "On the Days of Military Glory of Russia". This law established February 23 as "The Day of the Victory of the Red Army over the Kaiser's troops of Germany in 1918 - Defender of the Fatherland Day."
However, already in 2002, February 23 was renamed Defender of the Fatherland Day, the day received the status of an official holiday.
Thus, years later, the connection with the victory of the Red Army over the Kaiser troops on February 23, 1918 was excluded from the description of the holiday, as a fact that did not correspond to reality. This is a brief history of the holiday on February 23rd.
How 23 February is celebrated in Russia
In Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union, February 23 has long lost its political and military overtones. Nowadays, on this day, it is customary to congratulate men of all ages. Women present souvenirs to their colleagues, set the table with treats for loved ones, parents give gifts to their sons. On the eve of the holiday, store shelves are littered with so-called men's goods: strong alcohol, cakes, and various gift options. For example, tools, devices for hunting and fishing, etc.
At the official level, Defender of the Fatherland Day is also celebrated on a large scale - as a day of military glory - the authorities congratulate veterans of the armed forces and law enforcement agencies, military-patriotic events are held, fireworks are thundered, wreaths are laid.
Congratulations on February 23
Beautiful word - "Man"!
We love the husband in him, and we love the son in him,
We love you different - both weak and strong.
And in something guilty, and in something innocent.
You are often like children, and often rake,
You are just different, and so interesting!
Trying to change you is pointless, stupid,
To accept you by anyone for women is a science.
We miss you, it's very sad without you,
Without your love, a woman's heart is so empty.
Men, our defenders and glory,
Sorry for being wrong.
For your love! For patience! For strength!
Wish each of you to be happy!
Let there be less reasons for sadness
What a beautiful word - "Man".
With an understanding of the problem of the beautiful half on this winter day, I read today all the women's blogs that discussed the topic of celebrating February 23 in the office.
What was your strongest reading experience? How great and diverse is our country :-)!
I wanted to collect all the most interesting and accessible to perform, but soon I realized that the task is insanely difficult, as there are factors on which the entire success of the event depends:
- the amount that women are willing to collect is very different (naturally, the region matters, and the status of the company itself). Judging by the comments, this is from 100 to 2000 rubles.
- the ratio of women / men in the team (there are obvious distortions - 2/15 and vice versa)
- the amount of time for congratulations (if only 20 minutes of a lunch break, what is there to start)
- the venue of the holiday (do you also have 30 square centimeters among the working papers?)
- the presence in the team of a creative person who is ready to take on the role of a leader (if everyone presses against the walls and nods at each other, it’s better to limit yourself to an official toast to men’s health)
Now I share my knowledge, advice and specific proposals for the residents of Moscow.
1. My selection of gifts for February 23
In the past, I worked as a personnel manager in a large holding, I was engaged in the selection of gifts for each holiday for the entire team.
The conclusion is this: everything must be ordered in one large online store with courier delivery to the office, convenient payment options and the possibility of receiving impressive discounts. We decided not to rush about and ordered everything in Ozone. Since then, I have had a restful and healthy sleep.
Affordable Unusual Gifts
For the seventh year in a row, I have been updating a selection of all sorts of interesting gifts for men on Defender of the Fatherland Day. Something quite inexpensive and symbolic, something more expensive (it is quite possible to allow if there are few men in the team).
Personalized gifts with engraving, embossing or printing (personalized)
If it’s important to give a little thing that exists in a single copy, you can make a quick order on the website of individual personalized souvenirs. Just fill out the form with the name, surname or even a nickname in social networks, choose a gift. The courier will bring everything directly to the office. These are personalized flash drives, wallets, cool souvenirs, bottles, glasses, diaries, etc.
2. How to congratulate (9 options)
Choose the most suitable option, all programs can be held in the office, loft, cafe. There are programs for 2-3 hours (this can be arranged at the end of the working day), there are short ones - for 15-40 minutes. If it is impossible to distract all men from work at the same time, arrange master class zones.
1. Everyone cares (literally)
This is a cool master class (can be organized in a team building format), where all participants will learn to “catch the rhythm” with the help of percussion and bass drums.
It's loud, it's better to spend it in a separate office space.
There are still free presenters for congratulations on February 21, 2020 after 4 pm (if the office is inside the Moscow Ring Road).
2. Intellectual and entertaining team games
Intellectual games for February 23 are often ordered from us. Do not be afraid that at the end of the working day you will be forced to rack your brains for 2 hours in a row. These are entertainment events that can be held in the office or in a cafe right during the feast. Lovers of "What? Where? When?”, “Mafia”, “Guess the melody”. There are also programs for those with powerful intuition and moviegoers.
Here (I remind you, we are in Moscow). There are different levels of intelligence and humor, we will select individually.
If you want to think less and laugh more, . A party with 8 rounds based on entertainment TV programs.
3. Art parties
I tried to capture the essence of such an event in the title. This is not just a master class where each participant will paint a positive picture. The organizers tried to combine creativity with a full palette of bright emotions. It's fun, educational and very unique. You can combine the celebration of February 23 and March 8 together.
You can spend such a holiday in the office, loft, restaurant, bar. More about . Paint an overall corporate masterpiece, create a picture gallery for the office, or create custom paintings.
Drawing skills are not needed, you take the finished masterpiece home. Cost - from 1500 rubles. per participant.
5. Master classes that can be held in the office
The minimum order is 20,000 rubles. (up to 12 participants)
Participation in a master class of 20 people will cost the same amount if one master conducts, and the participants are divided into two groups (60 minutes for one group, 60 minutes for the second). If it is important that the master class be held simultaneously for all 20 people, the presence of another master is required. The cost will increase by 10,000 rubles.
Duration - 60-120 minutes (depending on the desire of the participants, the cost for 1-2 hours is the same).
If the company has from 20 to 500 employees, the cost will be calculated by an experienced manager, write to the mail the exact number of participants.
Painting with wine or coffee
tin soldiers
polygonal masks
flask decoration
painting t-shirts or baseball caps
donut decoration
drawing with chocolate on a chocolate bar (edible postcard)
calligraphy
the art of mobile photography
Woodburning
(there is a special men's grill menu)
6. Karaoke congratulations
A karaoke machine, microphones, catalogs and all the necessary equipment are brought to your office. The host will hold a cool party (you can start with military songs, end with even “White Roses”). Everything is very fun, especially if you choose a song program in advance. We have a leader with a song program (dances and competitions on request), with a complete set of equipment, sound, light, song catalogs.
Cost in Moscow - from 60,000 rubles. (presenter, sound engineer, set of equipment)
7. Portrait with wine
An artist comes into the office. She decorates herself with a beautiful workplace with glasses of wine and an easel. She draws from nature, in 2 hours she manages to make 12-15 portraits, the cost with departure inside the Moscow Ring Road is 25,000 rubles. The portrait will be A3 size, at the end it is pasted on a dense wine-colored substrate.
It looks like this:
8. Sand animation (art show as a congratulations)
An artist comes to the office with special equipment. This is a glass table with sand and other devices for creating a living postcard from sand paintings that follow each other to spectacular music.
Duration - 15 minutes. The cost in the morning and afternoon is 28,000 rubles, after 17 hours - 35,000 rubles (within the Moscow Ring Road).
9. Caricature from a photo (frame with glass, delivery by courier)
That's it, the result looks like this:
By the way, you can make a cartoon on your favorite car:
Press service of Mail.Ru Group:
“On February 23, we always arrange something special. For example, in past years, the guys could feel like real hunters by shooting from a bow (and compete in the ability to wield this weapon in team battles). We also organized a climbing wall and mini-Z races in the office. There was air hockey, giant jenga, track car racing, and even a laser maze. By the way, the girls also actively participated in all activities.
Photo: Mail.Ru Group press service
And through the intranet, it was possible to congratulate colleagues with badges designed for the holiday: send the Hulk's hand (strong man), Rubik's cube (to the one who can solve it), Schrödinger's cat (to anyone - everyone loves cats) or Captain America's shield (to the fairest).
This year's program will be no less exciting, but we are not ready to reveal the details yet - we are preparing a surprise for our colleagues.”
Ekaterina Belousova, Communications Director at Lingualeo:
“Like any IT company, we are mostly introverts. But, despite this, guys like different activities. Last year, on February 23, we gave them a master class in pistol shooting, throwing knives, axes and sapper shovels. Best of all, by the way, came axes. It turned out that height, weight, physical fitness in this matter does not matter. The main thing is technique. Some of the girls expressed their desire to join and also had a lot of fun.
Photo: Lingualeo press service
This year we offered our men a choice of several activities. Paintball and laser tag won, so at the end of February we are going to run through the dungeons with "pestles".
Philips press office:
“Employees of the Russian office of Philips always try to approach the issue of congratulations on February 23 in an original way. For example, they install a racing simulator in the office, where men can try themselves on the legendary Formula 1 tracks, arrange a culinary master class where everyone can feel like a real chef and learn the secrets of cooking the perfect steak, burgers and ribs, or organize a tournament in table tennis - a healthy competitive spirit gives men strength and inspires them to new feats.
And last year, a team from the Persona image laboratory was invited to Philips to transform the male half of the office.”
ABBYY
Olga Bronnikova, ABBYY Internal Communications Manager:
“Celebrating February 23, like March 8, is a big tradition at ABBYY. It appeared more than ten years ago in response to a surprisingly pleasant and completely unexpected surprise from the male half of the company on March 8th. Beautiful ladies on the way to the office were met by a real horse-drawn carriage. The office was decorated with flags with the motto In ABBYY veritas (True in ABBYY (lat.) - ed.). On the flags was a beaver in armor and with a shield. On this shield was another beaver in armor, and so on - an infinite recursion, after all, programmers invented it. A "cafe" was opened in the office, where top managers of ABBYY prepared breakfasts and baked pancakes in full force. Men then came up with various competitions, invited artists to the office who painted portraits of girls.
The following year, by February 23, the company was transformed into ABBYY Airlines. At the entrance to the office, the men were met by pretty flight attendants, breakfast on board was waiting for them in the conference room, and in the mail there was a letter with a link to a video clip with a song written in honor of the men of the company. In addition, a lot of entertainment awaited them throughout the day, and in the evening - the Cloud #9 bar, invented and implemented by the employees.
Since then, at the beginning of the year, ABBYY girls and men secretly prepare surprise holidays for each other. This is an opportunity to express recognition and admiration towards each other.”
Defender of the Fatherland Day is a great occasion to congratulate and please all the men in your family. And it doesn’t matter how old the man is and whether he served in the army. The main thing: these men are your defenders, which means they are worthy of a holiday! It's time to organize a celebration and once again get together, reviving family traditions.
- Training
In order for the holiday to be a success, everything needs to be discussed and prepared in advance. Get together with the female part of the family and draw up a program for the day, agree on who will perform what role and what duties they will take on.
Make a holiday budget, it should include:
- equivalent gifts for each of the men;
- treats;
- money to buy balloons and holiday decorations;
- inexpensive prizes for the winners of the competition;
- festive fireworks (optional).
After the organizational issues are resolved and the roles are distributed, you should start working on the design. Buy everything you need in advance: balloons, colored paper, machines, flags, etc. Make congratulatory posters the day before the holiday, and blow up balloons the day before or on the holiday itself. It’s great if you can create a wall newspaper that tells about the achievements of your men: jokes are welcome, but not offensive! Don't forget family history. Remember the exploits of your ancestors. Next, glue the garlands of flags. Hide all this in a secluded place until morning.
Holidays on the doorstep. We get up earlier than men and do home decoration, the main thing here is not to make noise and inadvertently not wake them up with a burst balloon. If your men like to sleep in, don't wake them up before 9:30, don't ruin the day. But at the appointed time, turn on invigorating music loudly (you can even pick up a military march!) And go to present gifts! You can flavor each present with a composed congratulatory poem.
When the men come to their senses from surprise, hit them even more. Say that today they got into the army for a day and there is no time for laziness! They need a minute to get dressed and make a bed. For those who do not cope, assign a fine - to sing a song or recite a poem. The winner will receive a small prize from you. Have you already bought small gifts for the winners in advance?
Breakfast time. And breakfast can be revived! For example, come up with funny names for dishes. And you can also hold a women's competition - who will cook breakfast for the male half faster and most spectacularly.
After breakfast, the whole family can go for a walk and play in the fresh air. If there is still snow, split into teams and play snowballs. Or arrange a competition for the most beautiful snowman. If there is no snow, warm up with a game of badminton. And don't forget your thermos of hot tea!
Lunch can also be made festive with themed dishes and, of course, cake! It's great if you have time to master pastry decorations from mastic and blind them for the cake. By the way, the table itself can be decorated in a military theme. Find a khaki tablecloth, or paint your own.
After dinner, arrange an impromptu concert, sing war songs with the whole family. Competitions will amuse both adults and children. Assemble and disassemble toy machines for speed, play darts, or come up with your own test of accuracy. Without cost, you can make a contest with airplanes. Have each participant make an airplane, and place a large basket in the center of the room. Whose plane will fly there first - he will win. By the same principle, you can arrange a boat swim in the bathroom.
You can end the evening outside: launch sky lanterns or arrange a real festive fireworks display.
Whether to introduce certain elements into the celebration of Defender of the Fatherland Day is up to you: pay attention to the number of men in the family, as well as their age. Remember that the holiday should please everyone!
All men, without exception, must take part in the holiday dedicated to the Defender of the Fatherland Day. Therefore, we offer you several ideas for show programs that are suitable for a real male celebration.
In the army
Most likely, some of the men in your team served in the army or even took part in hostilities. Your task is to evoke exclusively positive associations in them, but at the same time create and maintain the army spirit of your evening. Distribute caps to all the “ordinary” (in the absence of real ones, you can make them out of paper) and “Kalashnikov assault rifles” (toy pistols). Announce the start of the build. Men must remember the basics of drill training, get in line, execute the commands “Let me!”, “Attention!” and “Seats at the solemn celebration of Defender of the Fatherland Day!”. After that, start the program. Congratulate the representatives of the stronger sex on the holiday on behalf of the entire female part of the team. The women's choir can perform a song specially adapted for your group. Then hold competitions of the day "soldiers". Assignments, of course, must be appropriate, military. For example, if conditions allow, you can hold a competition for the strongest soldier - who will pull himself up on his hands more times. Or, dividing the men into teams, arrange the game "Construction". It consists in the following: the host announces the criterion by which the participants must line up, and the speed teams perform the task. For example, the presenter can say: “Become taller!”, “Become the size of your feet!” or “In alphabetical order, stand!”. The turmoil in the "slender ranks" will be incredible. If you do not divide the participants into teams, then you can simply announce the number, and the men will immediately have to gather in groups in which there will be a named number of people.
Then arrange a target shooting competition. Hang a regular dartboard, but glue a painted image of the enemy (such as is usually hung in a shooting range) on top of it. Let the "soldiers" shoot darts or bullets from toy guns.
As you know, privates in the army not only shoot at targets, they also go to kitchen outfits. Therefore, give your participants a knife and a potato, and let them quickly peel it from the skin. Whoever wins gets the title of "The Most Economical Soldier".
At the end of the evening, be sure to congratulate all the “private” on the holiday, in honor of this, raise them in rank and give the command “March to the festive table!”.
On a pirate ship
Real men are found not only in the army. Pirates are also fearless, strong, dexterous and cunning. And the fact that they are engaged in a dangerous business only makes them even more attractive to women.
Arrange a festive evening on a pirate schooner. You can use paper as the main material for making props, just make it not for caps, but panama hats with fields, then paint them black, glue the pirate symbol - a skull with crossbones. Hand out hats to your "pirates". You can equip them with weapons (toy sabers or daggers) and bandages over one eye. On the stage, you need to hang a bell with a cord, and dress the presenter in a pirate costume.
To get everyone's attention and start the evening, ring the bell and shout: “Half! All hands on deck!" Then the newly-minted "pirates" should hear the "legend": somewhere in the ocean a ghost ship is floating, its holds are full of treasures. To get to them, you need to defeat the army of evil spirits that guards the ship. For sailing for jewelry, the leader, who is also Captain Joe, is recruiting a team of the most daring, most reckless and skillful pirates. And now the final selection will be held. In order to get into the team of Captain Joe, men will have to take part in various competitions and show themselves.
First test- for the love of the sea, because it is very important for a pirate. Participants compete in who will remember the most songs dedicated to the sea or the ocean. Let them take turns singing several lines, of course, it is impossible to repeat.
Second competition- knowledge of maritime affairs. Participants are asked questions related to sailors, pirates and their occupations. Tasks may sound like this.
1. What is the name of the kitchen and chefs on the ship? (Galley and cook.)
2. Do whales eat other fish? (No, they feed on small algae - plankton.)
3. Who would be the captain of the 1st rank on land? (Colonel.)
4. What is the largest shark? (White shark.)
5. What is the name of young and inexperienced sailors on the ship, and what is the name of the first mate? (Yoongi and XO.)
In the third test, dexterity is tested. It's called "Sea Knot". In advance, find some book on knitting knots and make blanks - pieces of rope. Participants receive two segments - one is already tied, and the other is not. Their task is to cope with the sea knot, and, on the contrary, tie the second piece of twine into a knot according to the hint picture.
There can be very, very many such contests, but remember that you should not overwork the "pirates" either. At the end of the holiday, Captain Joe must announce that all the "sea wolves" showed their best side and they all deserve to go on a treasure trove. Then the "pirates" receive their gifts, and the captain invites them to the table to drink for the upcoming adventure.
At the jousting tournament
For a woman, her man is the most courageous, devoted, strong and courageous warrior. Therefore, each of the representatives of the stronger sex can be called a knight. Hold a tournament among the "knights" of your team to find out who is the best among them.
The evening is led by the "king" and "queen" (or one of them). They announce the beginning of the competition and call the participating knights: they list all the men present, calling each "sir". Participants go on stage, they are given toy swords and "faithful horses" (the simplest toys - a horse's head on a stick).
First competition associated with the image of the Beautiful Lady, which should be in the heart of every knight. Sheets of paper are glued to the wall, the “knights” are blindfolded and given felt-tip pens. You need to draw a portrait of your beloved woman. The one with the drawing that looks more like the Beautiful Lady wins.
Second test reveal the most gallant and eloquent. To do this, you need to prepare several fruits (apples, pears, oranges or any other) and stick them with toothpicks to make some kind of "hedgehogs". Then the men, in turn, should say various compliments to their lady for a minute, after each word named, pulling out one toothpick with their teeth. The one who ends up with the most sticks drawn wins.
Third competition it can be musical: after all, a real gentleman must be able not only to fight for the honor of his beloved, but also to behave at balls. Let the "knights" choose ladies from the auditorium. Turn on something from the classics (preferably a waltz), let the couples spin in the dance, and the jury will choose the most beautiful and skillful duet.
And, finally, what is a jousting tournament without duels? This battle is not only strength and dexterity, but also intelligence, cunning, endurance and patience. On the floor, you need to draw a circle with a diameter of about 3 m. The “knights” will have to push each other out of this circle. The task is complicated by the fact that you can’t push with your hands, and men will move on one leg. The winner is the one who goes through all the levels of the competition and scores the most wins.
You can add other competitions, for example, a competition for the best poet (you need to come up with a quatrain with the given words: lady, love, honor, or others).
At the end of the tournament, declare the absolute winner, it becomes the man who won the most contests. The rest of the "knights" receive prizes in various categories: "the most charming", "the most imperturbable", "the most resourceful", etc.
In search of adventures
In a man, by nature, there is a desire for superiority, even if the achievement of this goal is associated with dangerous adventures and courageous deeds. Let your men test their readiness for extreme entertainment and unplanned adrenaline rushes.
The host announces that on the way to the main prize, the participants will face various tests that they must pass: these are wild animals, stormy rivers, and impenetrable swamps.
So the journey begins. The presenter comments on everything that happens: the participants left the house, walked the first kilometers, reached the forest, and suddenly ... Attention, there are predators ahead! On the way we met wild and obviously hungry tigers! Will the valiant adventurers cope with them? Darts with images of tigers glued to them are brought onto the stage. Participants receive darts. For three attempts, they must "kill the predator", that is, score the maximum number of points.
The players continue their dangerous path and approach the swamp. It is very difficult to cross it, but it is impossible to bypass it. Men receive two pieces of paper - these are "logs". You can take small boards instead of paper. Participants must cross the quagmire as quickly as possible, while only stepping on “logs”, that is, the task is to shift sheets of paper (or planks) forward as quickly as possible and step over them. The first man to reach the "land" wins.
Safe and sound, the “travelers” reached the mountain range, and now a stormy river appeared ahead. The mountain stream is shallow, but rushes with incredible force, so it will not be possible to ford it. On the shore, participants find a map of the path to the bridge. But it is torn into several pieces. Each player is given the same sets of puzzles - pieces of a cut card. It is necessary to add the initial picture from them as quickly as possible. The one who completes the task most quickly wins.
After these stages of the game, you can hold any number of other competitions related to overcoming various obstacles. Of course, the main prize, which the stubborn participants have been “following” for so long, is received by the one with the maximum number of points. This prize can be, for example, a bottle of good cognac, wine or whiskey. But do not forget about the rest of the players - let them get some symbolic gifts.
At the end of the competitive program, be sure to say that each of the men showed his best qualities, such as courage, resourcefulness, readiness for surprises. And wish them to remain the same, to be real men both in life and in the game.