This year the Regional Museum of History in Blagoevrgad has a special programme lined up for its youngest visitors called What do you know about Santa’s helpers? The idea is to kick off the Christmas and New Year season with fun and games for the people who are looking forward to it most – children. When asked Who are Santa’s helpers? children usually answer – the elves, says Tonya Todorova, curator of the Museum’s Nature section. But Santa has other helpers he couldn’t do without – the reindeer who help him reach all children around the world, she adds. The Museum programme will help children learn more about cervids and about the deer species that are to be found in Bulgaria.

“Children will find out that Santa Claus had good reason to choose them as his helpers. They are very fast but also very quiet, so they won’t wake children up during the night. They will also find out some very interesting though little known facts about reindeer and how to recognize the three deer species typical of Bulgaria – roe, fallow deer and red deer. They will find out whether reindeer really have red noses as we see them in children’s books and films. And we shall reveal a big secret – that even though they have boys' names, Santa’s reindeer are in fact girls.”

Yes, that’s right Rudolph the Reindeer is a girl! “Every year deer shed and regrow their antlers. The antlers of the male deer are shed at the beginning of December and at Christmas time they do not have antlers; the antlers of the females are shed in spring when they give birth to their young. That is how we know that Santa’s helpers – the reindeer are in fact girls,"  Tonya Todorova explains. As to their red noses:

“Yes, the noses of the reindeer grow red when it gets very cold or if they have pulled the sleigh too long. That is due to the fact that the blood supply to their noses is copious to keep them warm; their noses with their dense network of blood vessels are also part of the thermal regulation of the entire body. There are other intriguing things children will be able to learn – that reindeer change the colour of their hides and of their eyes depending on the season.”

Tonya Todorova admits that the people from the Regional Museum of History in Blagoevrgad have made it a point to turn the euphoria of Christmas and Santa Claus to their advantage and present to children different animal species and their characteristics. The programme itself was developed by the Museum’s Nature section:

“Reindeer are one of the many animal species on the verge of extinction and we want to show children that conserving nature is in our own hands, that we should think of them all the year round and not just around Christmas time, otherwise we shall never be able to see them again except in pictures books about Father Christmas. The programme is first and foremost educational and although it is targeted at children we are hoping they will help us reach out to their parents as well. Because deer are one of nature wonders – a gift for all seasons we must cherish,” says Tonya Todorova.

The children’s programme at the Regional Museum of History in Blagoevrgad continues until 17 December.

English: Milena Daynova