Exposing children to different cultures and communities both at home and abroad is incredibly valuable for their development and understanding of the world.
Events such as the Barunga Festival, which was held between 11th and 13th June 2021, offer a spectacular celebration of indigenous community life through various mediums including music, sport and culture. There’s everything from Indigenous art to storytelling circles and softball displays. This is a family friendly event with delicious food offerings and the opportunity for some great dry season camping.
Yet don’t panic if you can’t make it to the Northern Territory. Why not consider some of the ways that you can teach your child through arts and crafts activities, which celebrate Indigenous communities instead?
Making a didgeridoo
Barunga Festival has its very own international didgeridoo competition – so why not try making one at home with your child? Children are so responsive to music and they’ll love creating their own instrument to play.
Whereas a traditional didgeridoo is often made from drying out eucalyptus, you can follow these simple steps to make a didgeridoo at home:
- Find a tube. Ideally a gift wrap tube is the best as didgeridoos are usually approximately this length but if you don’t have one, try putting toilet paper rolls or kitchen towel rolls together to increase their length. Aim for around 70cm if possible.
- Once you have your tube, cut some brown paper to a size that you can wrap it around the tube.
- Get some paints to decorate the brown paper. Didgeridoos generally have hand painted Aboriginal symbols or drawings on them, so get some photos to copy or to use as reference. Finger painting can also be a great option here.
- Once the paint is dry, wrap it around the tube and stick firmly. Off you go!
Try out camping
Kids absolutely love being outdoors and sleeping outside can be a real adventure. Even if you go no further than your own backyard, camping is a brilliant way to teach children about nature and the sights, scents and sounds of the great outdoors. It’s a great opportunity to talk about survival tips such as building fires and exploring the idea of how people lived (and currently live) without electricity or running water.
For younger children, you might want to consider spending the day in a tent or doing a story and a bedtime snack in the tent rather than spending the whole night – but see how you go!
You could also use a tent as a fun base for your children to spend time in as it gives them their own space. Fill it with books, healthy snacks, water and a few toys – you’ll be amazed at the games they’ll create when out in the fresh air.
Reading books and looking at artwork
There are tonnes of brilliant books about Indigenous community life in Australia and children always love reading and learning about how different people live both in their own country and around the world. Depending on the age of your child, you may want to ensure the books are picture heavy rather than too text based.
Looking at Aboriginal artwork is fascinating for children who love the patterns, symbols and animals depicted. Try and get a variety of images printed for them so that they can compare them with images they see regularly – talk to them about the colours and methods used to create the art itself.