Poppy Printing

We have been busy Poppy Printing for Remembrance day which is held in Commonwealth countries to remember the fallen in line of duty, aswel as people who have been involved and/or affected by war. Originally the day we set up to remember soldiers who were killed in World War 1, but today we remember soldiers in all wars.

First World War was declared over "at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month." This is why we do a 2 minute silence on the 11th of November at 11am. During these two minutes we remember our hero's. It is a time for reflection.

A poppy has been a symbol of Remembrance day for many years. The red poppy is a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem 'In Flanders Fields' written by John McCrae. Poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour became a symbol for the blood that was spilled in the war. 

Aswel as the red poppy, a white poppy is also used which is a symbol of peace.

Today I wanted to do an art and craft with Little N to mark remembrance day. She has been paying an interest in people wearing poppies over the last few days too so I wanted to extend her interest.

I sliced in half a potato and used a knife to carve a poppy shape.

We used red paint and red glitter paint to create the poppies. Little N dipped the potato into the paint and she printed onto some white paper. The prints looked very effective! 

Once they were dry, using our finger tips we added the centre of the poppy using black paint and our fingertips.

Such a simple painting activity which created some lovely art work. Little N is still too young to understand the reasoning behind Remembrance Day but it was a great opportunity to take a look at the Poppy.