Because of Covid-19, NAIDOC week was postponed this year from originally being held in July, to instead being held from 8th – 15th November. The theme for this year is “Alway was, always will be” which recognises that the First Nations people have occupied this land for over the past 65,000 years. Below are some ideas for activities you can do with your child throughout the week; you’re only limited by your imagination.
Finding Shapes in the Outdoors:
Go on an adventure with your little one outside, in your yard, or into a park. Search for objects that they recognise as shapes. Some examples include: letters, love hearts, smiles, circles, noses, or eyes. If you discover smaller objects in leaves, twigs, stones, etc, you can turn them into a collage and display them.
Make an Aboriginal Flag:
You will need:
- Printable Aboriginal flag template or you can create one on your own.
- Black Felt or Marker pen
- Red, Yellow and Black paints or crayons.
What better place to start off than telling the children about the Aboriginal flag. All you will need for this activity is a few colours (Red, Yellow and Black) and a template of the Aboriginal flag. You can either download the template online and take a print out or if you have enough time in hand you could simply make it by hand using a pencil or a Felt Pen.
While the children have fun painting their own flags, the educators or parents can take this opportunity to explain to them the significance of each of these colours and the shapes within the flag.
Here is a breakdown of the colours with their significance;
Black: Represents the Aboriginal people of Australia.
Yellow: Represents the Sun, the one responsible for life on earth and the protector.
Red: Represents the land that we live on (red centre of Australia), the red colour that Aboriginal people use in ceremonies and to create art and most importantly, their spiritual relationship with the land.
At this point, you can also talk about the red centre of Australia including Uluru and Kata Tjuta and its importance to the Aboriginal people.
Make a Boomerang:
You will need:
- Printable Boomerang Template
- Cardboard
- Colours
- Craft glue
You can start this activity by telling the children some fun facts about the Boomerang and how it was used by the Aboriginal people in the olden days.
According to the National Museum of Australia, the Boomerang is considered to be one of the ten symbols that Australians have chosen to represent themselves with.
A Boomerang is a traditional hunting tool used by the Aboriginal people of Australia and they can be credited with the invention of it. The Boomerang was first discovered by Australian settlers in the 1800s as they came in contact with the traditional owners of this land.
Getting back into the activity, you will need a template of a Boomerang that can easily be printed online.
Now cut the template along the lines and stick the Boomerang to a piece of cardboard.
Here you go, the boomerang is now ready and you can ask the little ones to get creative and paint their own boomerangs.
A good idea here will be to show them some Aboriginal patterns on the screen to kickstart their imaginative thought process for painting their very own Boomerangs.
Once the boomerangs are ready, you can also tell them about its unique shape, that has been carefully designed by the traditional owners of the land such that it returns back to them upon throwing in the air.
Maybe a boomerang throwing competition to get them all excited?
Dot Printing with Stickers:
Dot paintings are now internationally recognised as the work of the Aboriginal people. Thousands of years ago, dots were made using soil for signifying different scared designs for ceremonies that they undertook.
You will need
- Dot-shaped stickers preferably in colours that signify Aboriginal culture
- A template of your choice, some examples of what you can use include, the Aboriginal flag, a snake, a tortoise or any other patterns that can be commonly observed within aboriginal art. (See the one we have used above).
Simply take a print the template out and get the kids to place stickers on them based on their imagination.
Leaf Painting:
You will need
- Leaves (Preferably not brown and of different shapes and sizes)
- Paints
- A4 Sheets
Simply dip the leaves in paint or using a brush put some colour on the leaf and then place these leaves on a piece of an A4 sheet.