Australia Day is celebrated every 26th of January; it celebrates all things Australian: the land, lifestyle, democracy, and the freedoms Australians enjoy, but mainly the people.
Australia Day is about acknowledging and celebrating every Australian’s contribution to their modern and dynamic nation. From their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have been there for more than 65,000 years, to those who have lived there for generations, to those who have come from all corners of the globe to call Australia their home.
Why should we celebrate it?
Australia Day is a beautiful opportunity to observe Australia as a continent and its rich culture and diversity.
It’s a great way to start a conversation with your children about the Aboriginal people’s culture, languages, music, and Art. Talk about the diversity of our world, and celebrate our differences and similarities.
For any age group, the subject of Australia is a great way to learn about geography; children can learn about the weather, the variety of animals, and the beautiful landscapes. Ranging from the snow-capped mountains of the Australian Alps and Tasmania to large deserts, tropical forests, grasslands, woodlands, and the Outback, which is deeply ingrained in Australian heritage, history, and folklore. In addition, Australia has the most extensive coral reef in the world, The Great Barrier Reef, which is home to a variety of ocean life, plants, fishes, and sea animals!
Ways to incorporate learning into this celebration:
Personal, Social, and Emotional Development
Babies begin the journey of learning about the world around them through interactions with their primary caregivers and by learning about themselves. Babies need to be encouraged to explore their physical and emotional selves by looking at themselves in the mirror, exploring their bodies, physical movements, and gestures, learning how they work, and learning about their and others’ emotions. For our children to recognise and celebrate diversity, they must be exposed to the different genders, cultures, colours, religions, customs, and people in our world.
In addition, they learn about the broader world, which teaches them that we are not all the same. Still, we are all essential to society, teaching tolerance and acceptance.
Communication & Language Development
Books are a fantastic tool to teach our little ones about their world. So we have created a bank of stories to celebrate this wonderful day.
- There’s an Ouch in my Pouch, by Jeanne Willis
- The Koala Who Could, by Rachel Bright
- Possum Magic, by Mem Fox
- Diary of a Wombat, by Jackie French
- One Wolly Wombat, by Rod Trinca
- Kangaroos Hop, by Ros Moriarty
- Bush Tracks, by Ros Moriarty
- Don’t call me Bear, by Aaron Blabey
Books by Ros Moriarty have been illustrated by Australia’s leading Indigenous design studio, Balarinji.
The bright and colourful illustrations celebrate aboriginal Art joyfully and playfully. These books explore colour, Australian animals, and landscapes and are a fantastic resource for exploring Aboriginal dot paintings.
Stories like these will start exciting conversations; you may want to discuss the story’s setting; where is it set; the mountains, the desert, the woodlands, or the ocean? Talk about the differences between the story’s landscape and yours, the weather, and the animals.
You could also explore different sounds by listening to Australian instrument sounds, like the Rainstick, the Didgeridoo, etc.
Physical Development
Pretend to be Australian animals by getting on the floor and making animal movements and sounds, for example, hopping like a kangaroo, climbing trees like a koala, swimming like a turtle, or opening your mouth wide like a white shark! Simple actions like these will support your little ones’ physical development as they explore their bodies through movements and language by learning key words and sounds!
You can celebrate Australia Day by making Australian rainsticks from empty paper towels or water bottles and decorating them with Aboriginal dot paintings and paint stones! You can create your designs and use finger painting or cotton buds to make the different coloured dots.
Explore Aboriginal Art, also called dot painting.
Aboriginal Art is one of the oldest art forms in the world, created to express and communicate by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. This was one of the main ways they preserved their cultural stories and history.
Most traditional Aboriginal paintings feature earthly colours because they initially used Ochre to paint their stories. It is mined from the earth, a crumbly hard rock that comes in earthly colours ranging from yellow to red and brown.
Dot paintings are now widely recognised as a unique Aboriginal art form. Nowadays, artists use paint, which includes a variety of colours.
Using bright colours and shapes is a great way to introduce mathematical concepts such as shape, size, and patterns. Your little one will be able to learn about maths as they explore expressive arts and materials and learn about the world!
For more fun, easy ways to bring Australia into your home sign-up https://app.babbu.co.uk/
