Video of the Week
CBeebies Poppies animation
Synopsis
Instead of a book, this week we showed a short video to the children that helped them to understand Remembrance day. The animation sees The Great War experienced by the animal inhabitants of a WW1 battlefield.
Click the link below to view the animation on YouTube:
Weekly Activities
We started off by talking about Bonfire Night and showed the children the Bonfire Night pages from our 'Little Glow' book. We asked them: Who saw or heard fireworks on the weekend? What noises did they make? What colours could you see? What pattens did they make? Some of the children made fireworks pictures using paints and natural resources e.g. conkers or leaves/needles wrapped around sticks.
We then watched the Poppies Animation and discussed Remembrance Day in a sensitive, child-friendly way. We explained that we remember people who have fought in wars by making/wearing poppies. We facilitated a discussion on why we don’t fight and why it’s important to be kind to others.
We then moved onto our main activity which was making poppy necklaces and painting pictures of poppies. The children could paint poppies on paper, a stone or a wooden disc (using a saw to cut a piece from a log) which could then be made into a necklace by drilling a hole in the disc and threading either ribbon or string through the hole.
At Kidbrooke Park we also decided to make a large poppy-inspired wreath of hand prints of all the children and staff which we hung on the gate to welcome parents.
Aims and Objectives
Talk about how to share, co-operate and solve disagreements with others
Discuss the importance of kindness
Develop hand-eye co-ordination
Develop manipulation and control
Use tools to help develop fine motor control
Home Activity
When addressing sensitive subject matter such as war, fighting and conflict etc we often refer to a book called Green Lizards vs Red Rectangles by Steve Antony. This fabulously designed green and red picture book explores ideas around conflict, war and taking sides for young children, and is both beautiful and thought-provoking. The design and minimal text suggests that in war, and in any disagreement, things are not as black and white as they might seem.
Below is a link to a YouTube video made by the author where he talks about the idea and background story behind the book and he then reads it aloud. If you would like to explore the themes of remembrance day which may spark a discussion or alternatively just have a great book read to you, watch the video with you child:
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