Check out these World War 2 project ideas for kids. Teach your children about this important era in a creative way.
World War 2 affected the entire world. How it came about, the changes it prompted and the cultural impact it had has been taught in schools ever since. World War 2 is a heavy topic that can be a lot to take in. There is a lot of historical information regarding countries coming together and forming alliances. Try engaging your children in these different World War 2 project ideas to make learning more fun!
While you’re here, check out these fun, free history printables!
1. Build an Air Raid or Anderson Shelter
One of the most widely enjoyed projects around World War 2 is building an Anderson Shelter — often referred to as an Air Raid shelter.
What you’ll need:
- Cardboard
- Paper
- Glue
- Scissors
- Paint
- Small decorations
After showing your child pictures of Air Raid shelters, you can help them craft their own by cutting out cardboard, painting it and then decorating the shelter.
The shelter itself can be a bit tricky, but your best bet will be to create the front and back walls. Next use a piece of decorated paper to dome between the front and back, creating the half-cylinder look of the building. You can also talk to your child about the types of supplies that were kept there.
2. Make a Remembrance Poppy
Remembrance Day, a day all about remembering World War 2, is signified by poppies here in the United Kingdom. These redflowers can be re-created with almost anything, so why not make some out of card? That way, you’ll have your own remembrance day poppy to pin to your jacket. You can even create poppies using red cupcake liners!
What you will need:
- Red cupcake liners
- Thin wooden sticks
- Glue
- Black marker
- Scissors
Flatten out one red cupcake liner for the outside of the poppy then cut another cupcake liner a bit smaller to glue inside. This will form the petals of your flower. From here, you can use your black marker to draw the seed pattern inside before glueing the flower head to a stem — thin wooden sticks coloured green work well for this — creating a little flower. These are simple and very cute.
Check out these Victorian Era project ideas!
3. World War 2 Project Ideas: Make Your Own Gas Masks
To adults, gas masks can seem quite morbid, but kids find them fascinating. You can easily make a World War 2 style gas mask that your child can play with while also talking about the importance of these precautions during a time of war.
What you’ll need:
- Paper
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Toilet roll tube
- Tape
If you look at a World War 2 face mask, the first thing you’ll want to create is the cylinder for the pipe coming out of it. You can do this by taking a piece of paper, rolling it up, taping it together..
From there, you can let your child decorate a circle of paper, slightly larger than the end of your cylinder, to look like the ventilation for the mask. This can be taped onto the cylinder after it is decorated. Next you will need to make the face, which is essentially a giant heart that needs to be attached to the top of your cylinder — it should be big enough to cover your child’s face. You can then cut eye holes after attaching it to the cylinder. These eye holes will then be covered by toilet roll tubes, cut down to form much smaller circles. These masks look pretty funny in the end!
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