The Poppy

Remembrance Day.  Time to pause and give some thought to the heroes of World War One.  Do our children know why we wear a poppy?

It is hard for us to comprehend those years of hardship, heartbreak and unimaginable tragedy.  Our children are even further removed from such a time.

In the spring of 1915 a Canadian doctor, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, shortly after losing a friend at Ypres, was inspired by the sight of poppies growing in battle-scarred fields to write a now famous poem called ‘In Flanders Fields’

The poppy was adopted as a symbol of Remembrance.

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields."

We have been using the poppy as the subject of our crafts at Willow's Forest School this week.

Our children have been creating wild art, making poppies out of red leaves on the ground and using halved apples, dipped in paint to make their own poppy creation.

They have also been using their fine motor skills weaving red and black wool around a pair of crossed sticks to make a poppy pattern.

This form of art is called a God’s Eye and is a spiritual object made by weaving a design out of wool upon a wooden cross.  They are commonly found in Mexican and Mexican American communities.

Never forgotten