Appropriate to any Key Stage:
As referred to earlier, the poppy was a common sight in the spring across the battlefields and burial grounds of France and Belgium in 1915. Along with the popularity of John McCrae's poem 'In Flanders Field' the poppy was increasingly seen as a symbol of the war. The power of a simple, blood red flower that grew amid the desolation and death was evident to many.
It was in America and in response to McCrae's poem that Moina Micheal, a worker with the YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association), first pledged to always wear a red poppy in memory of those who served in the war. In 1918 she attended a meeting and distributed 25 silk poppies to those present. Moina also wrote a poem in response to 'In Flanders Field' titled 'We shall keep the Faith'.
In 1948 Moina Michael was commemorated with a US postage stamp as founder of the memorial poppy.
Extension art activity
Design your own WW1 poster using genuine posters as stimuli.
The "Remembrance" worksheet looks at how the remembrance movement began and the introduction of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance. The ARtefact on this worksheet triggers a 3D model of a red poppy accompanied by Elgar's "Variations on a Theme: Nimrod".
This ARtefact triggers a 3D model of a red poppy accompanied by Elgar's Variations on an Original Theme for Orchestra (Enigma) Op. 36, Variation IX (Adagio) "Nimrod".