Sharing the Significance of ANZAC Poppies With Our Tamariki!
White poppy, red poppy, purple poppy – Ma papi whero papi, tawa papi
Why are poppies so important?
The poppy has a long connection to ANZAC Day. Many people wear an imitation red poppy on their clothes around ANZAC Day. ANZAC Day is on the 25th of APRIL every year.
Poppies are flowers that grow in the ground and were recognised as the first living plant that sprouted from the battlefields of war.
Poppies are worn on ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day around the world as a symbol to remember the people that went to war and fought for their countries.
A lot of people are unaware that as well as the red poppy there is a purple poppy and a white poppy.
The purple poppy is worn to remember all of the animals that died at war. There were lots of animals that helped the soldiers at war and were also company for the soldiers. Some of the animals were cats, donkeys, dogs, goats, monkeys, birds and horses. There was even a turtle that became a mascot and friend of some of the soldiers from the NZ Army.
Horses were mostly used to transport ammunition, carrying messages and used to help carry wounded soldiers back to safety.
The white poppy has been worn for over 80 years. They were first made by a group of women (the co-operative women’s guild) in 1933. This group largely consisted of women who lost their husbands, sons, brothers and friends in WW1. It is an international symbol of remembrance and peace.
These are some key starting points to chat with the tamariki about why poppies are significant to ANZAC Day, from this you could create your own poppy learning experiences and even create your own ANZAC wall display! There loads of learning opportunities in our ANZAC Day resource that you can download.
