We, human beings always want our traditions, fact, stories, and sacrifices that lie behind the national day to pass on to our next generation. It is also important as without knowing the root of the culture and tradition, children will not be able to love their country in adulthood. Knowing about ANZAC Day, the real stories, heroism, and sacrifices will not let the Australian culture be lost rather hand it over to the future generation and will continue in this way.
An introduction to ANZAC day should be given in a way that they love to learn it and also can remember it. Research has shown that when a child is active and interested then he/she learns best. So, adults have to create the environment, study materials, and other necessary pops in a way so that children could learn it with interest. Following are some ways to give an introduction to Anzac Day to the children.
- Children will learn fast if they can see and feel the past stories of heroism, sacrifice, and fights in present. You can arrange a visit to show them medals, photographs, parts of uniforms, copies of soldiers/families’ letters, and ration items. They will feel attracted to the real stories in this way.
- You can arrange a “talk show” with anyone whose elder amily members were in the fight. They can talk to them. They will compare the time of war and peace. They will understand through the conversation that how difficult was the time of war. As much as they will talk, that much they will be curious. And curiosity will help them to learn things in a better way.
- You can make simple maps to make them understand how far the fighters had travelled to reach Gallipoli, Turkey, the Middle East, Belgium, and France.
- Discuss the sign of ANZAC Day. They will understand the symbols that relate to the commemoration of ANZAC Day, including the poppy flowers that grew in the Belgian fields during and after the war.
- You can encourage or arrange the role-play of children which is related to the fight and wartime such as they can make hospital tents, plane hangars, submarines, etc, which will give them understanding about wartime roles/responsibilities of men/women in defence forces.
- Any day you can ask children to celebrate the ANZAC day by having typical foods that they used to have in the wartime such as hardtack (biscuits), eat canned meat, and black tea. Children should not eat black tea so the teacher can replace it with any juice but on the glass, you can put a tag of “black Tea”
- Teachers can arrange some events like marching in the community, ANZAC Day parades, etc on ANZAC Day. Children can distribute badges and poppies to others. With the help of a teacher, children can arrange lunch and can invite the Défense Force Personnel from the local community. A teacher can arrange a visit to a monument, plaque, wall mural, or special garden on that special day
Here are some strategies you can use to make it easier to teach children about ANZAC Day
Teaching Children About ANZAC Day
The following are 8 ANZAC Day stories for children that explain the significance of ANZAC DAY in a simple and understanding way.
ANZAC Day Story Books
So, these are some ways by which children can feel, see and understand the Anzac Day and its importance. Once they will feel interested in knowing about the past they will learn faster. A teacher may add some more techniques if he/she feels. Teachers can take support of various Anzac Day-related books to present real-life stories o them. Teachers also can visit different websites or can take the help of CDs to introduce ANZAC Day to our next generation.
Reference:
An Introduction to ANZAC Day for Early Childhood, ACECQA