Reflecting on Remembrance Day in the classroom is an opportunity for a teacher to tie together peace, conflict resolution and respecting one another. Teaching children how to resolve problems on the playground peacefully and without conflict is ongoing throughout the school year.
Here are activities to mark Remembrance Day throughout the week in an early years classroom:
Remembrance Day Poppy
Poppy Corsage: The poppy is the symbol of Remembrance Day. However, the pin of the poppy is a safety concern. Once enough poppies are purchased or money is donated to have poppies for the entire class, take out the pin and hot glue a safety pin to the back of the poppy. Also hot glue the black circle in the middle of the front. Then children may wear the poppy with no worries about sticking themselves with the pin.
Read a Remembrance Day Story: Read to the class In Flanders Field: The Story of the Poem by John McCrae by Linda Granfield [Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1997]. This is the story of the reason why the poppy is the symbol of Remembrance Day.
Write a Thank You Note to a Soldier: Ask each child to write a thank you note to a soldier. The student can copy the sentence “Thank you for being a peacekeeper.” from the board and illustrate the picture.
Remembrance Art Activities
Poppy Wreath: Have students trace hands on different shades of green construction paper. Have children make as many hands as possible and curl the fingers of the traced hands before handing the paper hands in. On a bulletin board create a large circle of hands to create a wreath.
Photocopy four hearts on red construction paper. Have each student cut each heart out and glue hearts together at the bottom point of the hearts. Cut out a black circle and glue onto the middle of the hearts.
Staple the poppies onto the hands to complete the wreath. Title the bulletin board “Lest We Forget”.
Bingo Dabber Wreath Centre: Have groups of students come to this centre to make a wreath. Ask student to cut out a wreath shape photocopied on manila tag paper. Then use a red bingo dabber dab four circles on the paper. Make another four dabs to create the look of poppy flowers around the paper. Make sure each poppy do not overlap onto the other. Using a black marker make a circle in the middle of each red poppy.
Remembrance Day Website: The DTLK website has many great crafts and printable pages to use in the classroom. From custom Thank You cards to poppy crafts suitable for early years students.
"Lest We Forget" Activity: Cut out a white cross and have student print the words “Lest We Forget” in the middle of the cross. Make four poppies using the idea from the wreath activity. Glue each poppy around the edges of the cross. Staple each cross onto the bulletin board.
Marking the week of Remembrance Day teaches children why the words “never again” is so meaningful to the previous generations. Making a thank you card or a bingo dabber wreath are ways to educate the young children the importance of remembering those who have fallen during wars.
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