20 Australia Day Ideas & Activities for Students

Here is a list of fun and interesting Australia Day ideas and activities for students.

Australia Day is the official national day celebrated on January 26 across Australia. From National anthem cloze to Aussie Trivia, there are many Australia Day ideas and activities for students. These activities aim to acknowledge Australian history and celebrate contemporary Australia.

These ideas can double as online classroom activities, team building ideas for kids, and small group team building activities.

This list includes:

• Australia Day activities for kids
• Australia Day activities for the classroom
• craft activities for Australia Day

Let’s get into it.

List of Australia Day Ideas and Activities for Students

From scavenger hunts to jigsaws, below is a list of ideas and activities for students on Australia Day.

1. Australia Day Word Search

An Australia Day word search is a great activity to enjoy while celebrating Australia Day. This exercise is a terrific way to have fun and still learn so much about Australia. A word search aims to locate certain words hidden amidst different letters in a box. The list of words students should find is usually beside the word search box puzzle.

Template going in the Slack thread

This puzzle helps improve spelling and keeps the brain active.

Here are more vocabulary games.

2. Aussie Trivia

Aussie Trivia is a fun activity to test how much students know about Australia. By playing the game, children also learn more about this beautiful country. Activity preparation involves writing questions about Australia and drafting out rules for the game.

First, choose a non-player to be the trivia master. The trivia master can come up with questions about Australia’s history, culture, and States. For instance,

• What is Australia’s largest cattle station called? – Anna Creek station
• What is Australia’s longest river? – The Murray river
• What is the national flower of Australia?- The golden wattle
• How many time zones does Australia have?- Three time zones
• What is the name of the Australian netball team?- The Australian Diamonds

Individuals or teams consisting of two or more players can play this game. If individuals play, then the first person who answers the question correctly wins the allotted point. On the other hand, if teams play, then the first person to answer correctly wins the point for the team.

The person or team with the highest points altogether wins the game. Aussie trivia is not only fun but also enlightening for students.

Here is a guide to doing trivia virtually.

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3. A-Z Australian Word Association

This game involves giving students a worksheet containing the alphabet A-Z each in a column. Students will think of a word In Australia that begins with each letter of the alphabet and fill each column.

This activity is excellent for Grade Three to Grade to Grade Six students.

4. Chocolate Game

An idea to make Australia Day engaging for students is to play the chocolate game. This game is easy to play. The items you need include bars of chocolate, a knife, a dice, and a plate. Dress-up materials like jackets and gloves are also important.

To play this game, sit in a circle. Then place the bars of chocolate and other materials at the center. Each player will roll a die and aim to roll a six. If a player fails to roll a six, then he passes it to the next player. Once a player has been able to roll a six successfully, that player will put on the dress-up items. The player then unwraps the chocolate bar, cuts a square from it, and eats. The player will keep cutting and eating until another player rolls a six.

The next player who rolls a six will collect the dress-up items from the previous player and put them on. That player then repeats the act of cutting and eating a square from the chocolate bar until another player rolls a six.

You can also check out virtual chocolate tasting experiences.

5. Make your own Australian Flag

You can make the day special and fun-filled by creating your own Australian flag from simple materials. The materials needed are:

• Cardboards
• Paintbrush
• Silver glitter
• Red and white washi tape
• Liquid Glue
• Blue construction paper

To make the star design, draw stars on the cardboard. Then, cut the shapes out from the cardboard and place them one at a time on the construction paper. Next, tape down the cut-out star to keep it from moving. Then, add glue to the cut-out space and sprinkle glitter.

Finally, use the red and white washi tape to create the Union Jack and the Southern Cross symbols.

6. Play Soccer

Soccer is one of Australians’ favorite pastimes. It is a good idea to add soccer to your Australia Day program.

Soccer does not have to happen in an arena.  The game can take place in a park or a wide-open space like a parking lot. The number of players is also variable. You can change the rules of the game to fit your preference. For instance, you can decide to make the team that scores the first goal or the team with the highest number of goals the winning team. You can also play soccer with younger students while teaching them essential skills like passing and scoring.

Pro tip: Make the game even more fun by awarding prizes to the winning team at the end of the match.

7. Learn Traditional Australian Recipes

Another Australia Day idea for students is to learn recipes for some traditional Australian foods such as:

• Grilled kangaroo
• Barramundi
• Chicken parmigiana
• Pavlova
• Roast lamb
• Crab sticks
• Chiko roll
• Pumpkin soup
• Meat pies
• Fairy bread
• Vegemite toast
• Tim Tams
• Barbecued snags

Doing a cooking class with kids will allow them to gain healthy cooking skills and even try new healthy meals. To organize a cooking class, first get all the necessary materials.

Let the kids know all the rules that apply before starting the class, like washing their hands or not putting their hands into the food while preparing it. Select recipes that would be easy for each student or group of students to participate in at the same time.

While the cooking class happens, have fun with the kids, and make the day memorable.

8. Australia Facts

A fun and enlightening Australia Day activity for students is to share facts about Australia. This activity allows students to showcase their knowledge about Australia and learn new information about the country.

You can gamify the knowledge exchange to make the fact swap more entertaining. For instance, play  Two Truths and One Lie with Australian facts. Players list three facts about Australia, one of which is total fiction. The other participants guess which statement is made-up.

You can keep scores to know the winner or play for fun without recording scores.

9. Australia Day Dress Up

Costumes are great ways to celebrate events. There are countless ideas to dress up for Australia Day. Students can dress up as a famous Australian or in a koala, kangaroo, or crocodile costume. Kids can also dress up in costumes showing the Australian flag or Australian sports colors.

10. Pin The Tail On The Kangaroo

Pin the tail on the kangaroo is a festive game for Australia Day. The goal of the game is to pin the tail of the kangaroo as close as possible to the right spot.

Here is how to play:

1. Paste a picture of a kangaroo on the wall or board.
2. Cut out kangaroo tails and hand them over to each player. Each player can also creatively design their kangaroo tail with paper, paints, and strings.
3. Blindfold the first player and spin them around before they try to pin the tail of the kangaroo with their eyes covered.
4. Other players then take turns.

The player who pins the tail at the right spot or closest to the right spot wins the game.

11. Aboriginal Dot Painting

Aboriginal dot painting is another fun and artistic activity for students to try on Australia Day. Aboriginal Australians are the indigenes of Australia’s mainland and islands.

Materials for this activity can be as simple as a kangaroo outline, paints, and cotton buds. Be sure to show the students how to create dot patterns using cotton buds dipped into paint. Overall, this is a fun way for students to showcase the artist in them while having fun. This activity is great for students in Grade F to Grade Six.

12. Australia Day Literature

Reading Australia Day Literatures is one of the most common Australia Day activities for the classroom.

Here are starter suggestions:

• Talking To My Country by Stan Grant
• Are We There Yet? by Alison Lester
• The Lost Man by Jane Harper
• Best Foot Forward by Adam Hills
• Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty
• The Beekeeper’s Secret by Josephine Moon
• The Happiest Refugee by Ahn Do

You can mark the day with a book club-themed Australia Day. First, divide the students into groups. You can ask each group to agree on an Australia Day book to read. To make the book club student-centered, let your students develop the rules. Students can openly discuss the books, share their opinions and criticisms, and ask questions. You can include other games like a quiz to make it more fun. The group that answers the most questions correctly wins.

13. Australia Day Poster

Designing Australia Day posters is a creative idea to rouse students’ creativity. Materials needed include a pencil, colored pencils or marker, paper, poster board, and glitter. You can teach students to design an Australia Day Poster following these steps:

1. Get a piece of paper and a poster board
2. Write down all the things you want to include in your posters, such as words, colors, and designs
3. First, sketch your design on an extra piece of paper
4. Then use this sketch as a guide to design on the first paper.
5. Paint your design and add other embellishments as desired.

There are countless poster ideas to make for Australia Days, such as a poster of the Australian flag, facts about Australia, or a simple celebration poster.

14. National Anthem Cloze

Another activity to keep Australia Day lively for students is to perform a cloze test on the Australian national anthem. A cloze test involves supplying words that have been omitted from a passage.

This national anthem cloze test makes the day fun and tests younger students’ vocabulary and spelling.

To do this activity, give students a worksheet containing the Australian national anthem with missing words. They then fill in the missing words.

This activity is great for Grade three to Grade four students.

15. Australia Coloring pages

You can add color to the celebration of Australia Day by involving students in coloring Australian Day pages. These coloring pages are great for preschool, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and toddlers.

Some coloring pages ideas include:

• Wildlife like kangaroo, crocodiles, or koalas
• The Australian flag
• Sydney Opera house

This activity is one of the many educational Australia Day activities for kids  This exercise teaches focus, increases brain activity, and promotes hand-eye coordination.

16. Make your own Koala Mask

One of the most popular craft activities for Australia Day involves dressing up as a koala. You can readily purchase a koala mask in a store, however, making the disguise is a more hands-on approach. Using a printed mask, scissors, glue, and strings, you can make your mask

Here are the steps:

1. Download a printable mask from activity village
2. Print out the downloaded mask
3. Carefully cut the shape out with scissors.
4. Cut out the eye holes of the koala mask
5. Make a hole in each side of the mask
6. Insert a string into the holes, test the fitting of the string on the head, and cut the string to the desired size

You can also showcase your creativity by designing the Koala instead of downloading a printed mask. To DIY your mask, you will need a pencil, coloring paint, cardboard paper, scissors, and strings or ribbon.

First, sketch and paint a koala design. Then, carefully cut out the mask, including the eyes of the Koala. Finally, make a hole on each side of the mask to insert the strings or ribbon.

Students can do this project together while an Australian song plays in the background for an extra festive atmosphere.

17. Australia Day Jigsaw

Playing Australia Day jigsaw puzzles is a way to exercise students’ brains amidst the celebration. Playing jigsaw puzzles offers a lot of benefits, among which are greater attention to detail and better problem-solving skills.

Here are some ideas:

• Map of Australia Jigsaw
• Australia flag jigsaw
• Kangaroo jigsaw
• The Australian States and Capital cities map jigsaw
• Sydney Opera jigsaw
• Australia Aboriginal jigsaw
• I’m an Aussie jigsaw

Make the jigsaw puzzle playing fun by making it competitive. The winning team could be the first team to complete the jigsaw puzzle. If no team completes the puzzle before the allotted time lapses, then the team with the least number of pieces left is the winning team.

18. Australian Animal Vocabulary For Kids

Animal vocabulary word and picture cards can introduce students to Australian animals. You can use these cards for classroom themes, reading, and writing. Examples of these animals are the kangaroo, kookaburra, and wombat.

A great idea is to give students animal cards with pictures of animals in the shape of the letters they start with. For example, a picture of a horse in the shape of the letter “H.” Students then take turns to read out the letters on their cards. They mention the animals that the letters look like while mimicking their sounds. This activity helps kids practice letter recognition and learn the Alphabet in a fun way.

These resources are also a great way to broaden kids’ knowledge of wildlife and science.

19. Aussie Thong Toss

Thong throwing is a traditional Australian game that is relatively easy to play. Students of all ages can play this game. The basic supplies are flip-flops and a line to stand behind. The goal of the game is to stand behind a line and toss your flip-flop as far as you can

Thong throwing is an ancient and noble sport conducted in civilized affairs.

The game has the official rules that regulate it, which are:

• The size of the thong must be corresponding to the size of the player’s feet
• Allow a maximum run-up of ten paces
• The only time a throw will count is if it falls within an area defined by an arc of 35 degrees from the forward-most center point of the pitch
• Allow a single throw
• The only person permitted on the pitch is the thong thrower.
• Allow another throw if there is a foul

The winner is the player who can throw their thong the farthest.

20. Australia Day Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts are one of the most fun Australia Day ideas for students. The aim of the scavenger hunt is to learn the history of Australia. The hunt also serves as a fun way for students to work together to achieve a common goal.

To do this activity, hide several objects around the school. Then students can play as individuals or teams. The team that locates a particular object first wins the scavenger hunt. You can also hide multiple prizes like candy or toys such that, in the end, multiple teams win. At the end of the scavenger hunt, you can give everyone prizes and remind them that they are all winners.

Conclusion

Australia Day is a distinguished day in the history of Australia. Students can engage in various activities to celebrate Australia and its history. Australia Day ideas and activities not only enlighten students on interesting facts about the country but also build creativity and problem-solving skills.

Next, check out this list of Remembrance Day activities and these Anzac Day activities.