Veteran’s Day Poppies

My art department was approached by a local organization that provides assistance for local veterans and asked if we would be willing to make some Poppy themed artwork for their upcoming Veterans Day celebrations. Poppies have been a symbol of Remembrance since World War I when Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae penned the Poem “In Flanders Field” which described the blooming of red poppies amidst the war-torn battlefields of Belgium.

I knew this would be a wonderful service opportunity for my seventh graders, and we created these beautiful semi-dimensional poppy cards in two class periods. Students had the option of donating their finished poppy to the organization, or to give it to somebody personally they know who is a veteran.

Students who chose the latter option were asked to send me a picture of their chosen recipient with the poppy artwork, some of whom included grandparents, parents, and neighbors! The feeling of doing good for those who have served our country made this a fun and worthy project and a wonderful filler activity between two longer lessons.

Here is a picture of a student’s grandmother with the poppy card my student made, along with a picture of her in uniform as a younger woman. I love that this project stimulated some meaningful conversations across the generations about military service.

Materials needed for this lesson:

  • Dark Blue metallic cardstock, 5” by 7”
  • Light blue cardstock, 5.5” by 7.5”
  • POSCA pens
  • Rolls of masking tape for tracing
  • Red Construction paper
  • Black Construction paper
  • Small brass fasteners
  • Shaped Hole punch, (or you can cut small wavy circles.)
  • Glue sticks, pencils, scissors

HERE IS A GOOGLE PRESENTATION with some very simple and basic instructional videos that I provided to my students when we made these poppies. Also included in the presentation is the printable back page which went onto each card. (You can make a copy and edit this presentation as needed!)

Not mentioned in this slide show are the assembly instructions. Basically, we used a potter’s needle to poke a hole through the layers of petals and the backing card, and then used a small brass fastener to affix all the layers. The petals can then be “fluffed up” a little to give them dimension. The black center piece was created with a large hole punch similar to THIS ONE.

Here is a REFERENCE PAGE of Flanders Poppy Photos for inspiration.

If you try this with your students this Veteran’s Day, let me know how it goes!