Remembrance Day
Dear Subscribers:
If you have limited time to read through the entire blog, here are a few play-based activities focusing on understanding and honouring Remembrance Day. An important part of remembering is the emotion it produces. Spending time discussing Remembrance Day ensures that children understand more about war and peace, that they reflect on why it is important to remember and are grateful to those who fought to secure our freedom so that we may live in peace. It is also a time to reflect on the elders in our community and the symbols, such as the poppy, that show we have not forgotten as children learn to express our feelings of gratitude.
1. Read and Sing together 📚
- Remembrance Day by Molly Aloian. (7:55 mins.) Each year on November 11th, millions of people in Canada and other countries in the Commonwealth take time to remember the men and women who served their countries during times of war. This book describes how people around the world hold similar services featuring poppies and poems.
- A Poppy To Remember by Heather Patterson (6:16 mins.) (read by the Mayor of Edmonton)
- Birdsong by Julie Flett. Katherena and her mother move to a small town, where Katherena feels lonely and out of place until she meets an elderly woman artist who lives next door, named Agnes––then her world starts to change. As the seasons change, Katherna has to learn how to navigate the failing health of her new friend.
- Anne Frank’s Chestnut Tree by Jane Kohuth (11:23 mins.)
- Remembrance Day Song: I’ve got Peace in My Fingers (1:45 mins.)
- Remembrance Day Child (4:18 mins.)
- Remembrance Day Song for Children (2:25 mins.)
- Little Red Poppy and other Remembrance Day Songs including some lyrics.
- The Poppy Song for Kids (1:14 mins.)
- A Song of Peace for Kids (2:46 mins.)
2. Create together: Puzzles, Crafts, Singing, Drawing and Constructing 🧩
- As well as the Time to Remember activities with a word search, cut and paste activity to remember all of those Canadian soldiers and animals, who sacrificed for our freedom.
- Check out the Veteran’s week Learning Resources that includes a downloadable poster.
- Find lots of cutting, tearing, pasting as children create 11 different crafts for Remembrance Day and the Poppy.
3. Explore together 🌍
- Learn more about the Remembrance Day ceremonies planned in your community.
4. Engage and Interact: 👭
- Learn more from Tales of Animals in War (2021 edition) with the accompanying Teacher’s Guide or the story about the proud blue beret and Canadian peacekeeper soldiers.
5. Reflect: Thoughts of the Day about Remembrance Day💭
- Young children can learn more about the journey of the poppy and what it means by viewing this animated short film.
