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Students will understand New Zealand's involvement in WW1, particularly at Gallipoli, through exploring personal stories, letters, and ANZAC traditions.

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Students will understand how people remember and record the past in different ways (Level 1-2 NZ Curriculum, Social Sciences)

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Using language, symbols, and texts; Relating to others; Participating and contributing

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Share the story of ANZAC biscuits and why families sent them to soldiers. Show real ANZAC biscuits to the class.

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I talked to Grandpabbbb

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Read a simple letter from a soldier at Gallipoli to his family back home. Discuss how people communicated during WW1.

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Collaborative Activity: Create a Class Padlet Wall

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Collaborative Activity: Create a Class Padlet Wall

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Students share family stories of WW1 on a dedicated class Padlet wall. Those without direct family connections can share what they've learned about ANZAC soldiers.

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Look at pictures of Gallipoli's countryside and discuss what life would have been like for soldiers there.

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Simple introduction to the Māori Battalion's involvement, using pictures and basic facts suitable for Year 2.

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Students practice writing a simple letter to an imaginary soldier, sharing what they've learned about ANZAC history.

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Observe students during discussions and letter writing activity. Check for understanding of key concepts through their questions and comments.

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Students sort pictures related to WW1 into categories (soldiers, food, letters, landscape) to demonstrate understanding.

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Use think-pair-share to have students explain why ANZAC biscuits and letters were important during WW1.

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Students sit in a circle and share one thing they learned about New Zealand's involvement in WW1.

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Draw and write: Students draw a picture of something they learned about WW1 and write one sentence about it.

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Talk to family members about any connections to WW1 or ANZAC Day traditions. Share findings on class Padlet wall.

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Optional: Make ANZAC biscuits with family using a simple recipe (with adult supervision).

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This Anzac Biscuit recipe is one of the most made recipes in my house. Mainly because it is so easy and made with basic ingredients that I always have on hand in the pantry. Oh, and also because it's a recipe my kids can make... and they LOVE to bake!

Healthy Anzac Biscuits?

I put a question mark after this as it's something that is really difficult for me to say. "Healthy" is quite a subjective word. My "healthy" may be quite different to your "healthy".

For me, eating "healthy" is more than just about the nutrients and the ingredients. I think kids learning to cook is a healthy behaviour, and anzac biscuits are the perfect recipe for kids to make. So that gives these anzac biscuits a tick in the healthy column from me!

As far as sugar content goes, this Anzac biscuit recipe is pretty low in sugar compared to most, ¼ cup of sugar + 1 Tablespoon of golden syrup. There is 3 times more oats than there is sugar, so I think that is pretty good for a cookie.

The history of Anzac biscuits

My understanding, and please forgive me if I am wrong...

I believe Anzac biscuits originated during World War 1. When Australian and New Zealand women made these (or very similar) cookies to send to Husbands, Brothers, Uncles and Relatives fighting in the war.

Anzac biscuits have a relatively long shelf life compared to many biscuits which means these cookies travelled well to troops on the other side of the world

If you are an Australian or Kiwi (I'm a kiwi, by the way, born in the Waikato, currently living in Tauranga) you will know what ANZAC stands for

If you are one of my readers from the northern hemisphere you may not have come across this acronym before

ANZAC stands for Australian New Zealand Army Corps. This Army Corps formed during World War 1 and was made up mainly of New Zealand and Australian soldiers (although I believe from time to time other countries may have been part of it).

The ANZACs fought in the Galipoli campaign and on the 25th of April each year we commemorate these soldiers.

ANZAC biscuits get made all year round, but many people see out a recipe to make Anzac biscuits on Anzac Day, 25 April.

Soft or Crunchy Anzacs

There seem to be 2 distinct camps when it comes to Anzac biscuits, those who like them crunchy and those who like them chewy and soft. I am camp soft Anzac biscuit, as is this recipe.

If you want a crunchy Anzac biscuit you just need to make 3 tweaks to this recipe up the butter by 10g so you have 60g in total, up the sugar to one third of a cup and cook the cookie for slightly longer.

Easy Recipe for Kids

No cake mixer or electric beater is needed for this recipe, just whisk the dry ingredients together.

To keep this recipe easy for kids we just melt the butter and syrup in the microwave so that they don't need to use the stovetop. But you could use the stove if your kids are capable enough to manage it safely.

I have also found you can just use cold tap water instead of boiling water for dissolving the baking soda, so that's what we do now, quite a few recipes recommend boiling water but it doesn't seem to be necessary

(This Anzac biscuit recipe has been on my website dor a long time, it was one of the original recipes I posted. I have updated and republished the post though, as I had some technical issues when I first started blogging which some of my recipes lost their ingredients measurements. This is all fixed now though.

Easy Oat Cookies

I love including oats into cookie and biscuit recipes because they are such a filling and nourishing grain. This means I have ended up with a bit of a selection of oat-based cookies on my website.

Ingredients

½ Cup flour

½ Cup desiccated coconut

¾ Cup rolled oats

¼ Cup sugar

50 g butter

1 Tbsp golden syrup

½ tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp water

Instructions

1. Watch the short recipe video, it was something I put together showing my then 2 year old son making these biscuits. A few small things have changed in the recipe that is now published but the video is still a very good guide, and super cute!

2. Put the first 4 dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, stir

3. Melt the butter, this can be done in the microwave, low power to avoid splashing.

4. Add the golden syrup to the melted butter and stir

5. Dissolve the baking soda in the water then add this to the butter syrup mix, kids will love watching the butter and syrup foam

6. Add the butter mix to the dry ingredients and stir

7. Roll into small teaspoon-sized balls and place onto a baking paper-lined tray

8. Very gently squish the balls with a fork (a great kids job)

9. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for around 8-10 mins until lightly golden but still soft in the middle

10. Lick the spoon

Notes

The recipe above is for a soft texture you can make them crunchy by up the butter by 10g so you have 60g in total, up the sugar to ⅓ (one third) of a cup and cook the cookie for slightly longer.

You can exchange the flour for wholemeal, gluten-free or even coconut flour. All work well

I haven't had great success with this recipe when using margarine, I believe it is because in many margarines the water content can be higher than butter.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

These photos below are from the original post back in 2015.

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This Anzac Biscuit recipe is one of the most made recipes in my house. Mainly because it is so easy and made with basic ingredients that I always have on hand in the pantry. Oh, and also because it's a recipe my kids can make... and they LOVE to bake!

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Write a thank you note to ANZAC soldiers explaining why we remember them today.