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Sports ability

Sportsability is a suite of user-friendly, inclusive activity cards that have been designed to assist teachers in the delivery of sports-based activities that cater for all levels of ability. They provide activities for a variety of different game categories that assists in teaching children both general skills, and the ...

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Playing for life activity cards (F-2)

The cards include a variety of games designed to develop the skills of a range of sports and to encourage children to have fun and get active by focusing on skills not drills. The activities are based on the Game Sense approach, with the objective to develop in school-aged children a love of physical activity that will ...

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Yulunga: giriga

A duck ‘catching’ game was played by little boys and girls at Cape Bedford, Cooktown and the McIvor regions in north Queensland. This game was recorded by Walter Roth in the early 1900s. This is a role-play, running-and-chasing tag game suitable for younger children. The Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous Games resource was ...

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Yulunga: Gitja

The Gitga (moon) play game from the north Queensland area was usually played when a number of children gathered together. The full version of the game observed involved imitation and acting aspects along with a running-and-chasing activity. This is a chasing-and-catching (tag) game. It is a simplified version of a more ...

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Yulunga: meetcha boma

A hockey game was played by the Noongar people in the south of Western Australia. The game was called meetcha boma (‘nut striking’) in the Perth area. A meeja or meetcha (red gum nut) was used as the ball and a piece of wood with a crooked root (bandeegurt) as the hockey stick. The stick was generally bent into shape with ...

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Yulunga: noongar wana

The young Noongar girls in the southwest of Western Australia played many skill games. In one of these a short stick was placed on the ground and the other girls attempted to hit the stick while the girl defended it using her wana (digging stick). Different versions of this game have been recorded by observers. Players ...

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Yulunga: wabbyn

The Injibandi people of Western Australia had many guessing games. Wabbagunja kambong, wabbyn, ngabbungee jenarnung, kambugenjin were some of the names of their guessing games. Guessing games were often played around the campfire after the day’s hunting was over. Women might also play these guessing games among themselves ...

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Yulunga: wingara

A guessing game played by Aboriginal children in the areas around Newcastle in New South Wales was described. Using the kernel of a wild plum the children drew a picture of a fish or animal. This was concealed in a closed hand and the group sat around and attempted to guess what was represented on it. When the drawing was ...

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Yulunga: brajerack

Many different types of hide-and-seek games were played in Australia and the Torres Strait Islands. A game played in one part of Victoria in the latter part of the 1800s was called brajerack (the wild man). It was essentially a game of hide and seek whereby a player would hide in a wombat hole and would need to be dug out ...

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Yulunga: wana wana

This is a version of a game played by the young Noongar girls in the southwest of Western Australia. A girl used her wana (digging stick) to stop the other girls hitting a short stick placed on the ground. Players practise their throwing, catching and hitting skills. (This is a practice activity version of the game called ...

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Yulunga: pucho-pucho tau-i-malle

This stone rolling and stopping game was originally described as ‘stick-and-stone’ and was played by men in the Boulia district of Queensland. The Pitta-Pitta people referred to it as pucho-pucho tau-i-malle. This is a ball rolling and stopping activity involving two groups of players. The Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous ...

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Yulunga: dhandang

Tree-climbing activities and climbing contests were widespread and helped to develop a skill of practical use. There were a variety of methods of climbing trees used in different parts of Australia. Some of these involved the use of vines or notches cut into trees. The Victoria River people in the Northern Territory arranged ...

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Yulunga: tok

A ‘secret’ play-language game was reported on Waiben (Thursday) Island in the early 1970s. It was spoken by girls in Torres Strait Creole and was introduced to Dauan Island, where it was spoken in the local language. The language was spoken fluently in unprepared talk. This is a play-language game in which players insert ...

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Yulunga: julba

Skipping with a vine was popular with the Jagara (or Jagera) people of Brisbane and surrounding areas. The game outlined below was based on a 1950s account by an elder named Gaiarbu. To play this skipping game successfully, the players needed to be very active and had to have plenty of practice. This is a skipping game ...

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Yulunga: emu

This game is based on a chasing game observed being played by Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory in more recent times. This is a chasing and catching (tag) game. The Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous Games resource was developed to provide all Australians with a greater understanding and appreciation of Indigenous ...

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Yulunga: taktyerra

In most parts of Australia the young boys (and sometimes girls) played mock combat games for enjoyment and as a practice for adult life. Toy spears were made from thin, light sticks, or else from grasses, reeds and rushes. The spears were held at their lighter ends and thrown either with the hand or with a toy woomera (throwing ...

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Yulunga: wadai

In the 1890s, children in parts of the Torres Strait were observed playing a ball-catching game in the water called udai (wadai) or doamadiai. This is a throwing-and-catching game in which players compete for possession of a ball. The versions outlined here use the original water game (udai) and adapt it for use on land. ...

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Yulunga: woomera

A woomera or throwing stick was used by Aboriginal boys and men in all parts of Australia to propel spears with great force, often over considerable distances. On Dunk Island in Queensland a favourite target for spear-throwing contests was the white ant nests hanging from the gum trees. This is a throwing competition for ...

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Yulunga: kwatye

Water games and contests were played in all areas of Australia. In some parts of central Australia a frequent expression of ‘opposition’ between the generation groupings in a camp takes the form of light-hearted abuse and spectacular waterthrowing battles. The aim of the activity was to saturate certain kin in the opposite ...

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Yulunga: marutchi

Marutchi or black swan was a water game played by the Jagara (or Jagera) people in the Brisbane area. It was often played among inhabitants from different areas. Some of the players were very clever and could avoid being caught. If a player became tired he or she could be replaced by another player. Spectators were not ...