G'Day Mate! Let's Study Land Down Under - Australia Part 1

Aussie Map, Scavenger Hunt and Library Books

My first connection to Australia came in the form of geography and social studies lessons in elementary school in Finland. Somehow I still vividly remember seeing a picture of a little boy wearing big yellow headphones in my geography book. The boy was attending school via a two-way radio. He lived so far out in the bush that he could not travel to town every day. School of the air left an impression on my young mind! I also remember seeing pictures of jumping kangaroos and cuddly koalas as well as aboriginals playing didgeridoos in my school books.

I was hooked into knowing more about Australia as a young child, but my oldest friend (we've know each other since we both were 4-years-old) was hooked even more. She decided early on that she would spend a year in Australia as an exchange student and she lunged into learning more about the country. We used to go to the library together and my friend brought home piles and piles of books about Australia. One time she also wrote a wonderful essay in which she pretended to be Jørn Utzon, the Danish architect who designed Sydney's famous Opera House. I can still vividly remember our teacher reading my friends essay in which she described the heartbreaking ups and downs of the building of the magnificent structure. My friend did indeed go and spend a year in Adelaide, Australia, during our high school years. She had an interesting and exciting year in an all girls high school with uniforms and all! We had never heard of school uniforms and all girls schools before that! Now that must have been a great experience!

Since my childhood, I have had the honor to get to know and to befriend a lot of Australians. A couple of my closest friends are Australians and I am continuously blessed with invitations to Australian events and celebrations. The best part is when my friends pull out Marmite or Vegimite and try and surprise me with it's taste. (I actually quite enjoy it.) To my own surprise, I still have never made it to Australia and neither has husband nor my children. But that has not stopped me from exposing my children to Australia and it's culture. Our studies at home always start by finding the country on the map.

We have studied Australia many times before, so I asked my kids what things they remember about Australia. My daughter said without hesitation: koala bears, kangaroos, the big red rock (meaning Uluru), and the big building with sails (meaning Sydney Opera House). My son pointed out at the picture of the Aboriginal men with spears and commented that he wants one too. (Boys shall be boys!) From there our conversation moved onto our Australian friends. We are blessed with many! Some live in Australia, some live right here in Southern California and some have spent lots of time in the Island Nation. My daughter used to giggle in delight when her Australian friends spoke to her in their Australian accents. She was only four at the time, but she found it intriguing to try and figure out what her friends were trying to tell her.

I used to travel a lot for both work and fun. Australia and New Zealand were supposed to be my next big travel destinations, but then the children arrived... I had even bought some books to prepare for the trip and now I am grateful for them even if I still have not made the long trip to Down Under. During our scavenger hunt around the house we found mostly Australian items that have been given to us as gifts. Thank you Aussie friends! Especially Karen! We put on the Wiggles CD, went on an imaginary journey around Australia in the Wiggles' Big Red Car and looked at pictures from all the books. The next day, my son wore his Australian cap to school.

We were not extremely lucky at the library this time around, but we did find a few good books about Australia. It is always better to order the books online in advance. My daughter is an animal lover. She especially enjoyed learning about koala bears through Koala by Michael Leach. Postcards from Australia by Helen Arnold was perfect for my children. Reading the book makes you feel like you've just received post cards from a friend who is visiting Australia. Living in the Australian Outback by Jane Bingham gave us insights into the lives of the Australian Aboriginal peoples in the outback.

We love many Australian children's stories as well, but I will blog separately about them soon. Next I will share my favorite online resources on Australia. What Australian things do you have at your house? A boomerang, UGG boots or... wine anyone? After all, it's Friday. Cheers!