World War One Centenary Events For Children

World War One Centenary Events For Children
Department for Culture, Media and Sport

This year marks 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War and parents are being urged to mark the centenary with their children, to ensure that the past is not forgotten.

For children today, the events of the First World War can seem like ancient history. Which is why Helen Grant, Minister for Sports, Tourism and Equalities, is urging parents to pass the memories that their own grandparents and relatives shared with them on to their own children.

"Stories that pass down from mothers and fathers to sons and daughters are a great gift but can easily be lost over time," says Helen, who is a mother herself.

"With the generation that fought all but gone, it is down to us now. We are the only ones who can keep their memory alive."

In order to bring the era to life for children why not bake a trench cake?

Trench cakes were hardy fruit cakes sent by people in Britain to loved ones on the front line.

Throughout the war many ingredients were hard to come by, so traditional recipes had to be tweaked to make up for the shortages - which is why there are no eggs in this cake.

Trench cake

Ingredients:

1/2lb/225g plain flour

4oz/110g margarine

1 teaspoon vinegar

1/4 pint/140ml milk

3oz/85g brown sugar

3oz/85g curannts

2 teaspoons cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

nutmeg

ginger

grated lemon rind

Instructions:

1. Grease a cake tin and preheat the oven to a moderate temperature (about 180C/350F/Gas 4).

2. In a large bowl rub the margarine into the flour.

3. Add the dry ingredients and mix well.

4. Dissolve the baking soda in vinegar and milk. Add to the mixture and beat well.

5. Turn the mixture into the greased cake tin. Bake for about two hours.

6. Once cooled, wrap with grease proof paper and add a note that says in whose memory you have baked it.

Click through the gallery below for more memorable ways to celebrate the centenary.

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