On Australia Day 2020 Michael our Australian Director bought in Aboriginal wooden sculptures, the Australian and Aboriginal Flags, Australian books, 2 Didgeridoos, and of course a jar of Vegemite to share.
At circle time the children laughed as Michael played the didgeridoo. We have a couple of books about the didgeridoo, however to see and hear one in real life was a special treat. The artwork on the 2 different didgeridoos showed one with traditional dot painting and a goanna and its tracks. The other showed Aboriginal Mimi spirits done with cross hatch painting. the 2 different sized instruments created different pitched notes for the class to listen to.
After the music, the children were taught the song “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree”. Most of the children hadn’t heard about kookaburras so after sharing images from his childhood book on Australian animals, Michael played an audio recording of the Kookaburra’s song so they could hear how they “laugh”. They were then shown a myriad of brightly colored birds such as parrots, lorikeets, rosellas, and cockatoos.