5 Tips for Introducing Remembrance to Your Children

November 2, 2017 admin Dadvice 10




Poppy Apeal

5 Tips for introducing remembrance to your children: We are at that time of year when we see widows, serving members of the armed forces, ex serving members of the armed forces and other volunteers all over the land selling poppies.

They are of course selling them to raise funds for the Royal British Legion. But also to raise awareness of those soldiers who have died in conflict. The act of remembrance, I believe, is crucial as we are reminded of the families left behind and the sacrifice true heroes have made. Anyway I am sure you don’t need convincing. You can find out more about how remembrance day became to mean so much to me by reading my post from last year ‘What does Remembrance  Mean to You?
Whilst shopping the other day we approached the first volunteer seen selling poppies. I felt the need to explain to Oliver (3 years old) what it was all about and why we were buying paper flowers from a stranger. Realizing very quickly that I hadn’t prepared for this particular conversation. The following tips are taken from my own experience learning from my parents and interactions with my son. Hopefully you will find them useful to introducing remembrance to your young ones.

1) Talk To Them

Easier said than done depending on their age, however I was impressed with how much Oliver took in when I explained to him why we were buying a poppy. We all know our own children and how we should pitch our conversation to them, there is no set script. The only advice I would give is to be open and honest and not afraid to refer to death. Our children are often cleverer than we give them credit for. I explained to Oliver: ‘ You know when soldiers go to war? sometimes the soldiers don’t come home. That is sad, but we can remember them by wearing a poppy’ Pretty sure he took it in.

2) Watch This Video!

Debuting 2016 the short film made by Cbeebies is an excellent introduction to remembrance and The Poppy Appeal Clever because it tactfully shows the devastation of war without using humans. It also shows why the Poppy is key to The Poppy Appeal

3) Buy a Poppy For Them

The Poppy Appeal  has come along way since The British legion adopted the poppy as the official symbol of remembrance in 1921. Poppy sellers can often be found with many different types of poppies. In fact there are now products for all the family!

Pin badges and paper poppies for mum and dad

Rubber Charity Bands for Teenagers:

Poppy Appeal Charity Band

Zipper attachments for younger children and toddlers:

There are many many more just keep an eye out at your local shopping center or place of work!

4) Poppy Arts and Crafts

We love any arts and crafts and have been looking for fun activities to assist with remembrance. There are plenty of resources on the internet, here are a few that we may be using:

https://www.everythingmom.com/activities/51-remembrance-day-poppy-craft-ideas

Remembrance Day Activities

5+ Easy Poppy Crafts for Kids to Make for Remembrance Day

5) Attend a Remembrance Sunday Parade

No doubt that there will be a local parade near you. Attending and Seeing wreaths being laid may provoke questions, if this happens go back to number 1! Seeing how different people remember is important to discovering what remembrance is all about. Having spectated and been a part of such parades as a scout, I feel a part of something bigger. How we as a nation keep remembrance day alive is incredible .

In conclusion unfortunately as the years pass survivors of WWI and WWII are becoming less and less. This is why it is so important we support the work of The British Legion Poppy Appeal in educating the next generation that remembrance is about ALL wars and ALL soldiers, survivors as well as the ones that didn’t come home.

Twin Mummy and Daddy

Mission Mindfulness

You Baby Me Mummy




10 Comments

  1. This is such a thoughtful blog post. I love the idea of popoy arts and crafts. May do some with my kids on the run up to the 11th. Such a good idea. My eldes has always been curious about such things but my youngest, I may need a bit of help explaining rememberance day to her. Your post will help.

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  2. Thank you for sharing as my son has been asking my about the poppies people are wearing on TV. Being an EXPAT it is hard to explain. It isn’t happening in Holland. But I did try! It would be nice to get them a poppy for their schoolBag. #thesatsesh

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  3. Great post. I wholeheartedly agree with being honest with children, we don’t need to go into detail to get the message across and that CBeebies video is great. I love that they’ve started creating new ways to wear a poppy, especially for kids. Mine both had the zipper tags last year, my oldest had it on his school bag and the youngest on her coat. We’ll defybe buying them again this year.
    #Thesatsesh

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  4. One of girls asked about poppies the other day this is so important to remember excellent read Thank you for linking to #ThatFridayLinky Please come back next week

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  6. I think the Cbeebies video clip is really good and I hadn’t seen that before so thanks for sharing it! The arts and crafts ideas are good too – my eldest certainly learned a lot when doing some activities at school. #thesatsesh

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  7. My son and I were talking about this on the way home from school today, because they had been selling bits and pieces for the poppy appeal at school and I was really pleased that the teachers had clearly explained to them what it was all about. This post is really useful for me to carry on that conversation over the weekend, thank you. x #TheListLinky

    Reply

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