Lest we forget...

At Buckle My Shoe whenever there is a public holiday, we like to get our tamariki involved to unpack its meaning and support their understanding of the wider world around them. At our hui time, one of our wonderful kaiako asked our tamariki, “Why are we having a holiday on Monday?”. One of our little ones suggested it may be someone special’s birthday, whilst the rest were a bit stumped.

This led to us doing some research and reading some Anzac stories that unpacked what Anzac Day is and why we have a holiday. During these discussions we uncovered how whanau of some of our kaiako had been in the war, and how brave the soldiers were, going into battle. Throughout the stories, we saw a significant flower in the pictures.

“This is the Anzac poppy”.  Because the Anzac Poppy is an important symbol during this occasion, we decided we could create a display for the front of our centre, to pay our respects to our fallen soldiers.

Collecting together large bits of cardboard and various materials that were red and black, we decided that we would do two large poppies, one made of collage materials and one with paint and glitter.

Once the outline was drawn, the first group began on the poppy collage. They were focused and busy gluing within the lines and sticking on different red materials such as feathers, crepe tissue and pipe cleaners. Our little ones were careful to cover all the blank spaces and soon enough, the first poppy was ready.

The next group began painting the poppy with brilliant red paint and of course used red glitter to add the finishing touch. Next to the poppies, we attached a copy of the famous poem “In Flanders Field” and read this out before hanging up the poppies. This was a moving tribute to those fallen soldiers.

In another one of the books we read, a family made Anzac biscuits as a way to remember the fallen soldiers. Our little ones are avid bakers and were super keen on this idea as well.

We started with all the ingredients and a recipe, and all our little ones had a turn to add a dry ingredient and mix them up. The ingredients consisted of flour, rolled oats, coconut and sugar. Yum Yum!

Next, two of our little ones worked together to carefully add the golden syrup and melted butter, followed by the baking soda and water mixed together.

Our tamariki were fantastic at measuring out the different ingredients using different measuring tools and being patient while turns were taken. After mixing up all the ingredients together, everyone made an Anzac biscuit by rolling a spoonful of the mixture gently in their hands. At first, some of the biscuits were squashed as we were too strong, but with some guidance we learnt to use gentle hands to roll them and then put them on the tray for baking.

The end result was delicious little Anzac biscuits that we shared for afternoon kai time!