ANZAC Day Printables and Activities

Because I’m American (and we are routinely terrible about learning other peoples’ history), I don’t know a lot about ANZAC Day, though I have shared some ANZAC Day activities before. If you’re also unfamiliar, it’s basically considered the Australia and New Zealand version of Memorial Day in the states, and it commemorates the Battle of Gallipoli in World War I.

ANZAC stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps, and the Battle of Gallipoli was their first engagement in the war. You can learn some of the basics with this mini unit study printable from Simply Creative Learning, which is aimed at kids ages 5-10. It includes history, the ANZAC ode, the story of Simpson and his donkey and why poppies are often seen on ANZAC Day.

(Simpson refers to John Simpson Kirkpatrick, better known as John Simpson, who used donkeys to help carry the wounded away from the battle.)

Peace Through Grace has a free 20 page printable pack for ANZAC Day, which includes reading, writing, science and craft activities, and it uses immersive storytelling to make the facts more real and relatable for kids. This one is also aimed at kids ages 5-10, but you could adapt it for older kids as well.

The Sydney Teacher has a printable pack that includes a poppy to color, comprehension passage about ANZAC biscuits, and a recipe for making them. (ANZAC biscuits were a food that became popular during the war because of their long shelf life.)

Another great learning pack comes from Laughing Kids Learn. This one includes hands on activities, coloring pages and a word scramble, as well as facts, printable posters, writing exercises, comprehension worksheets and more. You can buy it direct from her Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Little Learner Hub on Teachers Pay Teachers also has an activity for making ANZAC biscuits, which includes the recipe and a worksheet where kids can describe the process.

If you want to dig more into the stories of ANZAC Day in a way that’s appropriate for kids, check out this picture book list from A Few Small Adventures.

I did a post earlier this year with activities and ideas for teaching the alphabet, but a lot or learning letters and recognizing them just has to do with seeing them and working with them a lot.

That means coloring, tracing, identifying things that start with different letters and more.

One way to reinforce the letters is through little activity books like these cute printable alphabet books from Life Over Cs.

These are available for free when you subscribe to her newsletter, and I’d say that’s well worth it if you have a little one (or a group of little ones!) working on the alphabet and letter recognition.

Each mini book includes a collection of things that start with that letter to color, color and read with words that start with the letter, tracing the letter, finding the letter in a grid and other coloring pages with objects that start with that letter.

These little books are super useful reinforcing the different letters and giving kids different activities related to the letters.

If you do a letter of the day or letter of the week you can use a new book for each one, and then keep the copies in your reading center or in a basket where kids can look at them again.

And of course you can add in all the other letter activities you like, go on a scavenger hunt for items that start with that letter, read alphabet books, practice writing letters in rice or with pompoms or playdough or whatever sensory activities you like.

You can grab the free printables when you enter you email address at Life Over Cs, and check out her other great alphabet resources and activities while you are over there.

Do you have favorite activities for teaching letters to kids? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Life Over Cs]

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