Making Armistice Day Poppies

Our World War I Unit happened to fall over Veteran's Day (or Armistice Day: 11/11) and we wanted to visit a veteran's cemetery. I hoped we might find the graves of some World War I soldiers, but we didn't. However, we found some WWII soldiers that had been alive during World War I. It was interesting to think about what their lives must have been like. And it was beautiful to see the cemetery all covered with flags.

We made some paper poppies to leave on the graves, and to wear in our buttonholes. The tutorial we used is here. It was really easy and the children ages 4-13 all had fun making them.

We also watched a time-lapse video of the ceramic poppies placed at the Tower of London last year for the centennial of World War I. It's an amazing display!

And this video tells the story of why poppies stand for remembrance (especially in the U.K.)

At the cemetery we saw the grave of a young soldier who just died last June. There was a letter on the grave labeled "to my husband." It made me cry. His poor wife and family! What a sacrifice.

We're so grateful for our veterans and soldiers, and we were happy to have a chance to remember them on Armistice Day!