Exploring Remembrance

It can be challenging approaching sensitive subjects with very young children. However, children are naturally curious. They cannot help but to notice people selling and wearing poppies. One of the teachers felt it would be helpful to try and explain in a child-friendly, sensitive way, why they are seeing poppies at this time of year.

First of all, she showed them her remembrance badges. She asked the children if they knew what the badges were for? One child asked ‘is it for the soldiers?’ She explained that once a year, we remember the armed forces who fought in wars all over the world, marking the end of World War 1, which is called Armistice Day. She continued that by wearing poppies it shows that we remember them.

One child asked why she has both red and purple poppies. She explained that the red poppies remember the people and the purple ones remember the animals who helped during conflicts, such as horses who pulled carts and carried soldiers, dogs who looked for missing people and carried medical supplies and pigeons, who carried messages from one place to another.

Further discussion followed around how the armed forces might have felt during conflict. The comments included ‘scared’ and ‘being away from home is sad’. This led the children to think about why it is important to remember those who gave so much to keep us safe and to consider those people living through wars today. One child commented ‘like the children that they want to go to Egypt to keep safe’. They thought about how those children must feel – ‘I would want my mummy’ one child commented.

The children have made their very own poppies and plan to walk to the War Memorial later this week to lay their poppy as a mark of respect. Everyone agreed that it is important to remember, so it hopefully doesn’t happen again.

Photos to follow on our Facebook page.

The Pre-school Team