Digital @ The Arts Unit Creative Teachers - Tales from the Wild Bush
Art and exploration
Primary teacher drama resource developed by The Arts Unit
Craft Adventure
Lead your students through the following activities to engage in nature and creativity.
Tales from the Wild Bush has 2 settings - Elektra's world and the Australian Bush.
Task
As a class, go for a walk around your playground. Use the 5 senses to immerse students in the experience. For example:
What can you see?
What can you hear?
What can you smell?
What can you taste? (the air, water, your recess?)
What do particular objects feel like? (grass, leaves, concrete)
As you walk through your adventure, collect some leaves and natural objects for the next task.
Art exploration
Paper puppy
Snuffles the puppet dog, is Elektra's source of comfort and home as they travel through the tales of the wild bush.
Task
Make your own paper puppy dog from the Art Gallery of NSW.
Bark projects
Stage 1
Collect some bark from a tree and make a bark rubbing.
Alternatively, paint your bark in lots of different colours.
Stage 2
Create a collage out of the items collected from the nature/playground
Students could create an abstract artwork with their collected objects or arrange them into the shape of an animal.
Stage 3
Use the amazing artworks below, created by students as part of Operation Art 2021, for inspiration for this task.
Using your collected items, paint, coloured paper, and reference pictures - create a collage of an Australian animal.
Students might like to make a collage for the animal character they created in character, acting and storytelling.
Create a brand new Australian animal using your objects, drawing and paint?
Wombat in the style of Pete Cromer by Thomas Dang
Tower Street Public SchoolOperation Art 2021
Koala Love by Eliza Rawle
Carrathool Public SchoolOperation Art 2021
Kangaroo Sky
by Elizabeth Cheng
Cockatoo in the style of Pete
Cromer by Lawrence Quan
Kookaburra
by Christiano Di Noro
Possum in the style of Pete Cromer by Hannah Bayley
Tower Street Public SchoolOperation Art 2021
Friendship Forever by Ella Kiss
Goulburn East Public SchoolOperation Art 2021
Kookaburra
by Lux Valentine James
Koala by Reuben Koon
Warrawee Public SchoolOperation Art 2021
Laughing Kookaburra
by Felix Minter
Connect to Country
The following activities are intended to connect students to the history of their local area.
Teachers might like to:
Contact your local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community and invite them to speak with your class or school about the local area. They may, for example, talk about Indigenous stories, the history of the area, or significant sites in your suburb or city.
Invite the school's Aboriginal Education Officer to discuss the tasks below.
You can contact representatives of your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community groups through agencies such as the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, Lands Council, Language and Culture Nests or groups, or Local Councils.
Task
Discuss the following with your students:
Who are the Traditional Custodians of the land your school is on?
What Australian animals are native to your area?
What sounds do they make?
Is there a local Indigenous name for your animal?
How do we ensure we protect our local animals and their environment?
Extension: Stage 3
D'harawal calendar
Visit the Bureau of Meteorology website to explore Indigenous weather systems.
The 6 seasons according to the D'harawal calendar are:
Burran (January to March: hot and dry)
Marrai'gang (April to June: wet becoming cool)
Burrugin (June and July: cold and frosty)
Wiritiribin (July and August: Cold and windy)
Ngoonungi (September and October: Cool becoming warm)
Parra'dowee (November and December: warm and wet)
Watch the video Season Shuffle.
Lead your students through the following activity.
Ask students to look at the 4 corners of the space they are in right now.
Imagine each corner is a different season:
Summer
Spring
Winter
Autumn.
Experiment with different ways of moving between each of the 4 seasons by reacting physically to each change in the weather as you travel around the four corners of the space.
Using knowledge of the D'harawal Calendar, extend this activity into 6 different areas of the room and move between the 6 different Indigenous weather systems.
Third-party content attributions
Tales from the Wild Bush production images 1-3, photographer: Anna Warr.
Wombat in the style of Pete Cromer, © Thomas Dang, 2021, reproduced and communicated with permission.
Kangaroo Sky, © Elizabeth Cheng, 2021, reproduced and communicated with permission.
Kookaburra, © Christiano Di Noro, 2021, reproduced and communicated with permission.
Friendship Forever, © Ella Kiss, 2021, reproduced and communicated with permission.
Koala Love, © Eliza Rawle, 2021, reproduced and communicated with permission.
Cockatoo in the style of Pete Cromer, © Lawrence Quan, 2021, reproduced and communicated with permission.
Possum in the style of Pete Cromer, © Hannah Bayley, 2021, reproduced and communicated with permission.
Kookaburra, © Lux Valentine James, 2021, reproduced and communicated with permission.
Koala, © Reuben Koon, 2021, reproduced and communicated with permission.
Laughing Kookaburra, © Felix Minter, 2021, reproduced and communicated with permission.