Remembrance Day Scavenger Hunt
It is important to teach our kids about Remembrance Day. There are a couple of ways that kids can be active participants.
1. Remembrance Day service: Take the children to a Remembrance Day service. There are many that happen all across the Valley. Visit Valley Events or the Valley Family Fun Calendar to find a service near you.
2. Walk in a graveyard: Most graveyards have a war memorial section. Walk through, reading the names, and finding out what wars they fought in.
3. Grave rubbings: While in a graveyard, take some paper and crayons and rub over the writing with the side of a crayon so the impression goes on the paper. Talk about what you see. Be careful with the headstones!
4. Read a book. The library has a lot of children’s books that speak to Remembrance Day. Start with A Poppy is to Remember by Heather Patterson, illustrated by our Valley’s own Ron Lightburn of Pumpkin People fame.
5. Do a craft. I have lots of Remembrance Day activities and crafts on my Pinterest board.
6. Scavenger hunt: This year, to get the boys engaged, I created a search and find war monument hunt.
This website lists all the monuments and historical plaques by county.
I looked up Kings County and extracted the ones that are war memorials and created a list.
War memorials, Kings County
Avonport: Located at the intersection of Oak Island Road with West Brooklyn Road (view point park)
Berwick: Located on the north side of Main Street in front of the Legion
Brow of Mountain: Located on Brow Mountain Road, about 4km north from Centreville (flight crash site)
Canning: Located in the intersection of Main Street (Highway 221) and North Avenue (Highway 358)
This is believed to be the second oldest military monument in Nova Scotia.
AND
Located on the south side of Main Street (Highway 221) adjacent to the Post Office
AND
Located on the south side of Main Street (Highway 221) at the Pleasant Street intersection
Kentville; Located at 37 River Street at the Legion
AND
Located on the north side of Park Street (Highway 1), at Denison Avenue Kentville Memorial Park
AND bench and sundial in front of Kings County Municipality
Kingston: Located on the east side of Marshall Road about 40m north from Highway One
CFB Greenwood was established in 1942 as a Royal Air Force Station
as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP).
The BCATP was a plan to expand all Commonwealth air forces.
Greenwood was used as a training base during WW2.
Port Williams: Behind the community centre.
Sheffield Mills: Located at Sheffield Mills Community Hall, #98 Black Hole Road
Wolfville; Acadia War Memorial Gymnasium Located at 550 Main Street (Highway 1)
AND
Located on the south side of Main Street (Highway 1) in front of the Post Office
How to play
I will make a driving route with those that are the closest to our house, and we will spend the afternoon driving around to each of them and filling out this chart.
In the design section, the younger kids drew a picture of the shape of the monument, where my oldest son wrote down what symbols were found on the monument. We adapted it for everyone based on how much they could write, as well.
Everyone participated in the activity and understood why we were looking at the monuments.
“By looking at their names, it makes them remembered,” they said.
Because this chart is very basic, you could apply it to the area where you live!
We will go after lunch so that we don’t disturb any ceremonies that might be happening at the memorial.
7. Research war graves through Veterans Canada.
We visited our local graveyard, and took some pictures of some of the war gravestones.
We wanted to learn more about these soldiers. Who were they? What did they do during the war?
We found a few! Here is an example. Click on the gravestone to learn more.
This was a great way to make these soldiers remembered and to keep them alive!
How do you honour Remembrance Day with your children?
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