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.

Growing Up Ladybug and How to Become a Butterfly are both by Stepanka Sekaninova and illustrated by Linh Dao, and they came out at the same time and are on similar themes, so let’s look at them together.

Growing Up Ladybug is narrated by Mariella, a seven-spot ladybug. She talks about the parts of a ladybug, where they live, different kinds of ladybugs, why humans love them, their defenses against predators and the life cycle of a ladybug.

The drawings are cute if not always scientifically accurate, it’s not in such a way that’s likely to confuse kids (who probably already know that ladybug mamas don’t push their larval babies around in strollers, for instance.

It’s a good general description of the life cycle of a lady bug and why we like having them around.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Similarly, How to Become a Butterfly covers the life cycle of a butterfly, starting with caterpillars eating burning nettle leaves. (Here Amanda is the narrator.) The book talks about a few of the more than 18,000 daytime butterflies in the world as well as other creatures that live in the meadow (there’s that ladybug again, along with crickets, bees and other bugs).

It also covers some of the enemies of caterpillars like wasps and spiders, and the defenses that caterpillars use to try to prevent being eaten. It illustrates how caterpillars grow and change as they molt and prepare to pupate, and what a caterpillar looks like before and while it is forming its chrysalis. And while the book uses the word metamorphasis it doesn’t really talk about what happens between the caterpillar forming a chrysalis and the butterfly hatching.

This butterfly is a peacock butterfly, and once it hatches the book covers the parts of a butterfly and the life cycle. It also talks about nocturnal moths (though it says nocturnal butterflies are “usually called moths” when moths are actually a different species) and what butterflies do at night.

I’m maybe a little hard on this book because my daughter is a butterfly expert from way back, but it is still cute and good for the very basic basics of the butterfly life cycle.

Both books would be fun additions to your bookshelf for younger kids starting to learn about different animals or who have an interest in insects.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Have you read?

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