Anzac Day Activities for Kids

Anzac Day is basically the Australian and New Zealand equivalent of Memorial Day or Remembrance Day. Anzac stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps, and it commemorates in particular the conflict at Gallipoli in World War I, though it’s generally a way to honor all those who have died in service to the country.

While it’s a heavy thing to talk to kids about, it’s important for them to know the meaning of these important holidays and to learn more about them.

KidsKonnect has some good facts about the day and printable worksheets about the historical figures involved, what Anzac means and the flags of the different countries that mark Anzac Day.

Twinkl.au has a printable Anzac Day medal worksheet so kids can design their own memorial. They also have a printable silhouette craft and coloring pages including soldiers, poppies, wreaths and more. (These require a free account to download.)

Foundation into First talks about how to talk about Anzac Day with younger kids, and they have a set of Anzac Day activities for grades 1-3 on Teachers Pay Teachers.

A Few Small Adventures has a great collection of picture books about Gallipoli, World War I and Anzac Day to read with kids. Top Teaching Tasks has some great ideas for older kids such as researching war memorials, finding a soldier and taking a virtual tour of Gallipoli.

Poppies are a well-known decoration used for remembrance, and kids can make poppy crafts such as this bottle cap field of poppies from Danya Banya or some of these crafts done by Happy Hooligans. I love the cupcake liner poppy, which is shown here.

If you have access to a kitchen or are willing to bake at home you can also make Anzac biscuits, which are said to have been made by the soldiers’ wives because they could stay fresh for a really long time while they were away from home. Get a recipe from Recipe Tin Eats.

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Learning about Australia for Kids

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]

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