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Decimal currency

This interactive slideshow from the Royal Australian Mint provides a series of high resolution images and brief descriptions of the transition from pre-decimal to decimal currency in Australia.

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Holidays, past and present

This three- part activity compares similarities and differences between family holidays of the past with the present. Students view the Allen family's photo album (1899 - 1900) and compare them with holidays they have experienced.

Interactive

Australian coin history

This interactive slideshow from the Royal Australian Mint provides a series of high resolution images and brief descriptions of currencies from Indigenous barter systems to modern Australian currency. A downloadable fact sheet on Australian coin history is accessible from selected pages within the slideshow.

Interactive

Environmental and Zoo Education Centres – primary school resources

A collection of digital resources for primary school teachers and students to support teaching and learning from home, with a particular focus on geography, science and history. The resources were developed by Department of Education teachers from 25 Environmental and Zoo Education Centres in NSW and include Google Sites, ...

Interactive

The Orb

The Orb is a collection of multimedia learning resources about Tasmanian Aboriginal histories and cultures. It explores the interconnections between people, Country, culture, identity, and the living community. The multimedia resources have between three and five sections in which Tasmanian Aboriginal people share their ...

Interactive

Meeting at Kamay

This resource explores the perspectives of the Aboriginal people of Kamay Botany Bay and the men aboard the HMB Endeavour upon their meeting in 1770. It aims to help students understand the history of Australia's Aboriginal peoples and why stories of the past are important to all of us. This resource is one part of the ...

Online

Whose shoes?

This sequence of 2 learning activities explores the present and the past using photographs of shoes from the State Library of NSW's collection. Students are encouraged to use time sequencing vocabulary e.g. then and now. Activity 1 asks students to compare a variety of shoes for purpose, similarities and differences. The ...

Online

Yulunga: luka-pul pul

Finding-the-object games were played in many parts of Australia as well as the Torres Strait. The objects to be found were usually the eye lens of a fish or other animal. The hidden article would often be the lens, obtained after cooking, from the eye of a fish, possum, rat or wallaby. The usual method of hiding the lens ...

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Yulunga: walle ngan werrup

In the west Kimberley area of Western Australia the young men were fond of playing a version of hide-and-seek called ‘the hunting or bush game’ (wallee ngnan weerup). This is an imitation and acting game that is also a form of hide-and-seek. Younger players pretend to be on a kangaroo or emu hunt. The Yulunga: Traditional ...

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Yulunga: Wanambi

Wanambi was a large snake. This game was observed being played by the Pitjantjatjara people of central Australia. This is a chase-and-tag game. Players in a line move towards another player, who suddenly chases and attempts to catch (touch) them. The Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous Games resource was developed to provide ...

Online

Yulunga: borna jokee

In parts of Western Australia mimic battles with toy spears frequently took place among the younger male members of the camp. Mock fights and duels were fought. There were also trials of skill with kyley and spear and kangaroo and emu hunts, the children taking turns at being hunter and hunted. In these activities the boys ...

Online

Yulunga: gorri

Bowling-ball or disc games were played by Aboriginal boys and men in all parts of Australia. A piece of rounded bark (disc) was rolled by one of the players for the other boys to use as a target for their short spears. A version of this activity is still played in the Kimberley area and Northern Territory (and perhaps elsewhere) ...

Online

Yulunga: makar

Various types of toy boats and canoes are found in parts of Australia and the Torres Strait Islands. On Sunday Island in northern Australia, small models of the raft (kaloa) were made for children to play with. In other areas of Australia small replicas of dugout canoes were fashioned. In parts of the Torres Strait simple ...

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Yulunga: kari-woppa

A wrestling game was played by the people in the Torrens area of South Australia. The contests were generally held on the meeting of groups from different areas. Players wrestled for a tuft of emu feathers called a kari-woppa. Komba burrong or kambong burrong (the game of ‘catching hold’) was the name of a similar game ...

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Yulunga: kamai

Using a length of twine, adult women and young children of both genders often amused themselves for hours at a time with cat’s cradle (string-figure games). These were played almost everywhere throughout Australia and also in the Torres Strait. In some areas older boys and adult men also played these games. Elaborate figures ...

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Yulunga: birray

Young children in the Bloomfield area of north Queensland played the game of birray (march-fly). It was observed by Walter Roth in the early 1900s. This is a game where a chaser (birray) attempts to tag (touch) other players. The Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous Games resource was developed to provide all Australians with ...

Online

Yulunga: nanyima

Catch-ball games were played in many places. The balls used were made of seeds, stones, clay, seaweed, grass, hair-string and stuffed fur. In one game a player tosses a stone (ball) over his or her shoulder to a number of players and attempts to guess who caught the stone. This activity is suitable for younger players. ...

Online

Yulunga: tambil tambil

In many areas of Australia people played skills practice games, where they threw objects at each other. These included sticks, mud and stones of various sizes. A spear-dodging game called tambil tambil (refers to the blunt spears used) was played by the Jagara (Jagera) people of the Brisbane area, as part of sham fights ...