Bring bold colour and meaningful reflection together with this Romero Britto-inspired poppy art activity perfect for Remembrance Day. Using our free poppy printables, children can explore patterns, lines, and colour while creating a thoughtful piece of art for this November 11 or beyond.
Romero Britto’s artwork is known for its bright colours, bold black outlines, and playful patterns. These features offer a starting point for children to experiment with their own designs. For this activity, we’re pairing those ideas with the poppy, a symbol of remembrance.
What You’ll Need
- Free poppy printables
- White paper or cardstock
- A black marker
- Crayons, coloured pencils, or markers
- A ruler (optional)
Create Your Poppy Art
1. Choose Your Printable
Print a poppy template on white paper or cardstock. A simple outline gives children plenty of room to add their own lines and patterns.
2. Divide the Design
My printables come with the bold ones already made and without lines. Print out the version that works for you child. If you using the version with out the lines use a black marker to draw lines across the petals and background, creating smaller sections. Try straight, curved, or zigzag lines. Younger children may prefer fewer, larger sections.
3. Add Patterns
Fill some of the sections with dots, stripes, checks, waves, or little shapes. Leave other spaces plain to create a mix of solid colour and pattern.
Encourage children to explore their own ideas, every poppy can look different.
4. Bring in Colour
Colour each section, keeping the black outlines visible. Children can use traditional red petals with a colourful background, or explore a wider palette as a creative interpretation.
5. Pause and Reflect
Take a quiet moment to talk about why poppies are worn for Remembrance Day. Keep the conversation appropriate for the children’s ages, with space to discuss remembrance, service, and hopes for peace.
Invite children to finish this sentence beside their artwork:
“A peaceful world looks like…”
Make It Work for Your Group
For younger children, keep the design simple with large spaces and a few repeating patterns. Older children can explore contrasting colours, more detailed designs, and how different patterns change the overall look of their work.
For a collaborative display, give each child a poppy to decorate and bring the finished pieces together around the words “We Remember.”
Download Your Free Poppy Printables
Ready to create? Download the free poppy printables and gather your favourite colouring supplies. Use this activity at home or in the classroom to make room for creativity, conversation, and reflection.
Already a subscriber? No problem, simply enter the same email address and name and you will not receive double emails.
This is an independent art activity inspired by Romero Britto’s use of colour, line, and pattern. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the artist.
Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers
There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!
But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.
Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.
Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!
These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!
Click here for more information: Play2Learn
Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copy here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.
TV Show: Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.
Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
