Activity Introduction

Quick summary: Kid/s explore the many ways that animals might move throughout the course of a day. They recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures use movement and dance to share stories and knowledge. This activity is designed to give you an understanding of how to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into activities and to help you build your confidence in exploring this topic with your kids.

This activity is a great one to do together as a family.

Ideal for: Early Learning, Lower Primary.

Themes:

  • playtime
  • get moving
  • think and connect

Time required: 20 minutes

Curriculum connections: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Literacy, Creative thinking.

Tips for Parents and Carers

The activities in this series have been designed to give you and your kid/s an opportunity to explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures through stories, games and arts and crafts. Before beginning this activity it would be useful to read through this information. There is also a list of resources to help you conduct your own research.

The benefits of embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives: 

  • For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids, exploring their culture plays a key role in their development, identity and self-esteem, and contributes to the overall well-being of the child.
  • For non-Indigenous kids, embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in their early education experiences is fundamental in creating inclusive and accepting attitudes, and positive race relations. These perspectives are also about celebrating different cultures and the uniqueness of individuals. It is enriching for children to experience the different perspectives and diverse human experiences other cultures can bring to the melting pot (source).

About this activity:

  • Like many other traditional cultures around the world, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples may use dance and movement to tell the stories of their Country and the people, plants, animals and spirits that live there. In this activity, children will use their bodies to dance, move, wriggle, slither, hop, bounce and slide, telling the story of animals waking, feeding, interacting and sleeping over the course of a day.
  • This activity incorporates activities to support oral language development. To find out more, click here and here.

Lesson & Curriculum Details

Resource required

 

This activity has been developed with the support of the Philipp Foundation and the Thyne Reid Foundation.

Worksheets

Teacher Worksheet

Activity Instructions

Part A: Discussion

Step 1. Begin having a chat with your kid/s around some or all of the following questions:

  • I wonder if we live on earth?
  • I wonder what types of plants live on earth?
  • I wonder what types of animals live on earth?
  • I wonder what types of animals live where we are? I wonder if we have seen animals in the park or at home?

Tip: Asking ‘I wonder’ questions can help support oral language development in kids. Find out more here and here.

Step 2. You could share some of the Animal Flashcards with your kid/s and talk about whether you have seen any of these animals where you live.

Part B: Activity

Step 1. Still looking at the images of animals, time invite your kid/s to act out the movements of each of these animals. You could prompt your kid/s with the following:

  • I wonder how this animal moves?
  • I wonder what it is doing?
  • I wonder where it is going?

Step 2. You could then bring these movements to tell the story of the animals o

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