Hundreds of school children spent time over the school holidays at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra learning about the Invictus Games Sydney 2018 and the way adaptive sports can help people recover from illness or injury.
The ‘Make and Create’ craft program is a regular school holiday fixture at the War Memorial, but this year organisers incorporated activities specifically related to the Games, which are taking place from 20-27 October in Sydney.
The mainly primary school-aged children were joined by parents and carers for the workshops and included some recent arrivals to Australia. Approximately 300 children attended the four 1.5-hour sessions.
“We had some ‘Make Your Mark’ posters, which we put up all around the space,” said Johanna Butler, Education Officer at the Australian War Memorial.
“We made murals and the children wrote little good luck messages to the competitors. They coloured in pictures of Cobber (the Games Mascot) and, as they were doing these activities, we explained to them a little bit about what the Invictus Games is all about.”
“We talked about adaptive sports and how sport can be a way to help people recover from illness or injury.”
“They all really enjoyed it. A lot of the kids connected with Cobber – many have dogs at home – so it was nice to have that link.”
The activities provided an age-appropriate introduction to the concepts of trauma and rehabilitation. A Communications Partner, The Australian War Memorial has items related to the Games in a collection on display in its galleries and the young visitors were able to check them out.
“From our end, it was great to see parents and their kids spending time together during the holidays, trying out crafts and learning about the Games through that method,” said Butler.
“Some of the kids had only recently arrived in Australia. It was nice to have them here and help them learn a bit more about Australia and the Games.”
Children can download the Cobber colouring in sheet and learn about Cobber here >>>
David Sygall
Invictus Games Sydney 2018