“Explore Australia” Adventure: Hands-On Travel Experience for Kids
Activity Overview:
This interactive activity lets kids “travel” through Australia, just like the characters in the book, through food, art, landmarks, and culture!
Super hands-on – Kids touch, build, taste, and act out Australia’s culture!
Encourages creativity & storytelling
Teaches geography, history, and Italian traditions
Activity Overview
Kids will design their own Australian Adventure, imagining where they would travel if they were on a trip through Australia like the characters in the book. They will draw a map and explore the country “hands on.”
- 🗺️ Step 1: Create a Travel Passport & Map
- Give each child a blank “passport” (folded paper or booklet).
- Set up stations representing different Australian cities (Sydney, Great Barrier Reef, the Outback, Tasmania)
- As kids visit each “destination,” they get a stamp or sticker in their passport!
- Optional: Use a large map of Australia and let kids draw their travel route!
- Color in Australia and mark:
- Great Barrier Reef
- Sydney
- Uluru (Ayers Rock)
- Tasmania
- The Outback
- Challenge: Add animal drawings for each region (kangaroo, sea turtle, koala, etc)!
- 🎨 Step 2: Hands-On Australian Culture Stations
- Create some stations where kids can create like historians and experience some cultural moments
🐠 Great Barrier Reef Explorer
- Activity: Reef-in-a-Box Diorama
- Use a shoebox, sponges, and craft supplies to build an underwater reef scene.
- Add fish, coral, turtles, and jellyfish.
- Learn: Why is the reef so colorful? What makes it special?
🐍 Outback Adventure Game
- Activity: Create an Outback obstacle course!
- Crawl under “logs”
- Jump like a kangaroo
- Slither like a snake
- Balance on “rocks”
- Bonus: Time your course and try to beat your own record!
🌊 Sydney – Opera House
- Craft: Build the Sydney Opera House
- Use folded paper or cardboard to recreate the famous sails.
🎨 Aboriginal Art & Stories
- Activity: Dot Painting Project
- Use cotton swabs or pencils to paint dot designs on dark paper.
- Create animals or natural symbols like the sun, snakes, or waterholes.
🍰 Aussie Food Fun
Snack Time Ideas:
Brave enough for Vegemite?
Fairy bread (bread + butter + sprinkles)
Lamingtons (sponge cake with chocolate + coconut)
🦘 Wild Aussie Animals
Game: Match the Animal! Match each animal to its fun fact:
- Kangaroo: Hops and carries babies in a pouch
- Koala: Sleeps up to 20 hours a day!
- Platypus: Lays eggs and has a duck bill
- Wombat: Digs big burrows and poops cube-shaped!
- Emu: Big bird that can’t fly
Craft Idea: Make a paper animal mask or a clay wombat.
Dabble Books 