Anzac Day Activities

I did these activities last year as part of my Anzac Day unit.  They are fairly simple, but look effective.

Anzac Poppies

The first activity requires the following:

• red paper or card (A4 for small version, A3 for a larger version)
• black and white photocopies of photos from Gallipoli or France in WW1
• green paper or card

• pva glue

Firstly, it is a good idea to get the children to spend a bit of time practising how to draw the poppy shape on some scrap paper.  I like the children to use as much of the paper as possible which is why I think the practise is a good idea.  Cut out the poppy shape.  Then draw a circle in the middle lightly with a pencil; tracing around an appropriately sized circle is helpful.

The black and white photocopies can then be ripped up.  It would be good it they ripped the pictures so part of it is recognisable.  Then the children can start gluing the ripped up paper into the circle on the poppy.  Encourage them to glue in the circle shape, so that the edges are curved, and that there are no gaps within the circle for the red paper to poke through. 

When the top is dry, you can glue the stalk onto the back of the poppy.  A strip of green about 2cm wide and the length of an A4 page is good.  They can even cut a leaf shape out and glue that onto the stalk.

Medals

The second activity requires the following materials:

• material scraps
• gold and silver paper/card (we actually painted some paper with gold and silver metallic paint)
• either plain paper or card
• pva glue
• felt pens as close to gold or silver as possible

• preferably dressmaking scissors to cut the material better

It would be good to get the students to do a bit of research about medals, who received them, why, what they look like, the differences between them.....

Then let the students choose material they think will make great medals, cut it up in appropriate shapes and length, and glue it on the paper.  The dressmaking scissors will make a better finish on the edge of the material compared to normal classroom scissors from experience.

They can then get the gold and silver paper/card and cut into appropriate shapes.  They can use the felt pens to add detail to the medals.  Once they are happy with them they can glue to the paper with the material on it.

When it is all dry, cut out the medals as one piece.