Kits are shipping now! Order early to give your group plenty of time to make and wear their poppies before Remembrance Day.
Questions? Contact the project. We answer within two school days.
Questions? Contact the project. We answer within two school days.
Questions? Contact the project. We answer within two school days.
Lesson plans for grades K to 12
A full lesson plan, grade guides, and curriculum links. See what the unit covers and what your school needs to supply.
The full lesson plan
Written by the School of Design at Fanshawe College and taught in classrooms since 2021. Students make seed paper from pulp and poppy seeds, cut and assemble a poppy, wear it on November 11, then plant it in the fall or spring. No craft experience is needed to teach it.
- A step by step plan for the three week unit, with timings per period.
- A poppy pattern and an assembly guide you can photocopy.
- A slide deck on the history of the poppy and In Flanders Fields.
- Two versions, one for grades K to 6 and one for grades 7 to 12.
Three week lesson plan
Subjects the unit covers
One unit, four subjects. Teachers use it as a science block, a social studies block, or as a whole class project across the three weeks before Remembrance Day.
Science
Paper making, fibre, germination and what a seed needs to grow.
Social studies
Remembrance Day, the Legion and a century of the poppy.
Literacy
In Flanders Fields, close reading and student writing.
The arts
Pattern, cutting, assembly and a finished object worn in public.
Expectations are mapped to the Ontario curriculum. Classes in other provinces have run the unit without changes.
How long it takes
Complete the activity in a single afternoon or spread it over several sessions, depending on your group.
Step 1
Make the pulp
Two or three periods in week one. Blend the paper, water and psyllium, then stir in the poppy seeds.
Step 2
Pull and dry the sheets
One period, then three to five days of drying on a towel or rack. Plan this for week one.
Step 3
Cut and assemble
One period in week two. Students trace the pattern, cut the petals and pin the poppy together.
Step 4
Wear it, then plant it
Worn on November 11. Planted in the spring, indoors in a pot or outdoors once the ground is warm.
What arrives, and what your school supplies
Ingredients, in the kit
- Online bilingual instructions
- Online bilingual history of the poppy
- Red construction paper
- Poppy seeds
- Psyllium
- Pins
Tools, your school supplies
- Bowl
- Blender
- Framed screen
- Sink or plastic bin
- Towels
- Glue
- Scissors
Yield. Approximately 16 sheets of seed paper, which creates approximately 40 poppies.
Instructions and the history of the poppy are supplied in English and French.
Questions teachers ask
About three weeks. Paper making runs over two or three periods, drying takes a few days, and assembly is one period.
A blender, a bowl, a framed screen, towels, glue and scissors. Everything else ships in the kit.
One kit makes about 16 sheets of seed paper, or roughly 40 poppies.
Kits are $12 each, plus HST and shipping. Orders go through Fanshawe College.
Still deciding? Email admin@poppyproject.ca – We answer within two school days.
Where the poppy came from
John McCrae, Madame Guérin and the Royal Canadian Legion, written for students to read. Since 1948 the Legion has been entrusted to uphold the poppy as a symbol honouring veterans.
Honouring Bravery
Free, curriculum aligned Remembrance Day materials for grades K to 12 from Canada Company, plus travelling exhibitions. Worth pairing with this unit.