Teaching Children about ANZAC Day

ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day, on the 25th of April, is a special celebration in Australia. It is a day where we can all show our thanks and respect to those who have served and continue to serve to protect our nations. But the question remains; how do we explain something so important whilst being sensitive to little minds?

ANZAC Day is particularly important to both Erin and I (Janice).  Many generations of my family have served and continue to serve in the armed forces. My great grandfather died in Villers Bretonneux and his name is on the wall in the memorial in Canberra. My Uncle recently served in East Timor as a Peace Keeper.

Erin’s beloved ‘Pa’ (Grandfather) served in Papua New Guinea during WW2, and had many stories to tell about his time in the army. She has many proud memories of going with him into the city, medals attached to his chest, to watch the march.

Whilst our generation has had an upbringing with slouch hats, medals on walls and watching relatives in parades, many children in Australia do not have such an upbringing. And we are lucky that while our armed forces are deployed around the world, we are not actively at war as many countries are, so it is not as much a part of everyday life as it once was.

War is not something most would consider an appropriate topic for young children. And I would agree. But I would also say that children do need to be told the truth about important things like ANZAC Day, so that they can gain an understanding of what has happened in the past and what we are commemorating.

Here are my top 5 ways of discussing Anzac Day with children

READING

Reading to children is a very easy and simple way to introduce ideas, including harder or more sensitive topics. There are some great options for children of various ages to talk about Anzac Day.

An especially good one for 3-5’s is “My Granddad marches on Anzac Day” by Catriona Hoy. Catriona writes about a simple but very real representation of what ANZAC Day looks like for families. The pictures are helpful too, by not focusing too much on the war itself (though there is one page with a lot of guns you might want to be aware of before sharing), but on the importance of remembrance.

Another helpful book is “Lest we Forget” written by Kerry Brown. Beautifully illustrated, there is a parallel between “days you want to remember and those you want to forget”. Very simple and moving, aimed at between 3-6 year olds.

Gordon Winch’s “The Last Anzac” – aimed higher at 6-9 – is slightly more graphic in nature but is based on meeting the Last Anzac from World War 1, Alec Campbell, before he passed away.

EXCURSION

Go to the memorial. I can’t stress this enough. Go there. I went many times growing up to Canberra with my family. I loved hearing the stories that my grandmother would tell when we arrived there. I felt pride being able to post a poppy on the wall of remembrance where my great grandfather and great uncles names were engraved.  My husband and I plan on taking our children to the War Memorial when they are a little older.

Take your children to the march on ANZAC Day so they can see the soldiers who have served in the past and continue to serve for our country.

CRAFT

Making Poppies is a fun, creative, hands-on way to talk about the significance and symbolism of the poppy. Poppies grew all around the battlefields at Villers Bretonneux – where many soldiers died. The poppy is symbolic of the sacrifice that many have made.

At Preschool Erin created a simple activity for her preschool class to explore. She cut red petals out of card and then set them up with glue, paddle pop sticks and pipe cleaners, black dots and yellow paint and encouraged the children to create their own version of a poppy.

COOKING

A very common tradition in Australia to commemorate Anzac Day is to make Anzac Biscuits. This is another hands-on experience for children which allows for discussion on how people here at home were also helping those at war.

You can talk about how Anzac biscuits were made by the families back home to be sent to soldiers on the front, and the ingredients that are used are to make a biscuit that will last for the long journey.

TALK WITH THEM!

This is the biggest one. Talk with your children!

Hubby and I watched the Anzac day march today with my daughter who just turned two – we explained the medals, the bugle playing the Last Post, the uniforms. We answered all the questions she had and explained why this is an important day for both us as a family and our nation as a whole.

War can be a hard topic to talk with your children about and should be handled sensitively. But that doesn’t mean you should shy away from talking about it at all. We hope that this post has given you some ideas about how to explain Anzac day to your child while being sensitive to their ability to understand.

Xx Janice