Anzac Day is a special day for all Australians and it is important to involve our children, in what the day means. We are fortunate that we live in a free country and each year, we thank the men and women in our armed forces who fought for our freedom, and continue to do so. Wreaths are laid at memorials all over the country and you can also make your own, to attach to your front door or the front of your house.
This wreath below is a fun activity to do with your children leading up to Anzac Day. They will love getting messy and painting their hands, then seeing them as the "wreath" on their front door. The flowers are a little fiddly to pinch together, so younger children will need help with that part. Together, you can create a meaningful craft that you can continue to put up every year - and you can marvel at how small their hands were from the year before!
MATERIALS
Cardboard (we used a large Weet-bix box)
Green paint - dark and light
Paper
Red paper
Paintbrush
Tape
Glue
Scissors
INSTRUCTIONS
Wreath:
1/ Turn a large bowl upside down and trace the circular shape onto cardboard. Find a smaller bowl and trace it onto the inside of the first circle. Cut it out for the wreath.
2/ Trace this wreath circle onto red paper, cut it out and put it aside.
3/ Paint your child's hand in dark green and get them to stamp their hands onto white paper (or green paper if you have any). Let them dry and then cut out the shapes.
4/ Glue painted hands onto the wreath, with fingers pointing out.
5/ Glue the red paper circle over the top of the centre of the wreath to neaten the edge. Cut out a rectangle in red paper and tape it to the reverse, for the banner across the middle. Write the words you would like on your wreath. We included the year, so we could look back on it and know the year it was made and the age of our daughter.
Make the wreath using green hand prints and cardboard
Glue the red circle on over the top to neaten the edges and add the banner behind. The wreath is finished, now onto the flowers ...
Fold red paper in half and cut out 4 heart shapes for one flower. Position the points of the hearts to the centre of the flower and glue in place, overlapping each heart a little. Fold the flower in half and half again, then along the middle of the other petals. Pinch in the base and form a 3D flower. Wrap the tape around the base to secure it in place.
7/ Tape the flowers on the red circle in the middle of the wreath, laying the bottom of the flower to the side, so you can tape the bottom down. Overlap for each flower until the red circle is full.
Make flowers by cutting out 4 hearts and gluing them together, overlapping hearts with points together at the centre
Pinch the base and tape each individual flower to the red part of the wreath
Lastly, if you feel there are a lot of white areas on your handprints, get a lighter green wash paint and touch up those areas, so your wreath appears more green.
Attach it to the front door and be proud of your Anzac Day wreath!
If the hands have too much white, go over them with a light green wash to make the wreath more green
Be proud of your finished wreath!
