Australia virtual travel activities for kids: 7 homeschool lesson ideas

Not too long ago I posted a survey on my social media, and nearly two-thirds of To & Fro Fam followers wanted ideas on how to travel from home. Quarantine and the coronavirus have canceled a lot of families’ travel plans—but that doesn’t mean you can’t explore our beautifully diverse world! That’s why I put together this post on Australia virtual travel for kids.

Max and Edie have been semi-obsessed with Australia lately. They ask to watch YouTube videos about the Great Barrier Reef, the Outback, Sydney, Australia’s beaches and—randomly—the unique spiders found here! (Just check out peacock spiders and you’ll understand why.)

So my kids and I have been exploring Australia from home. I’m excited to share our ideas on Australia virtual travel for you and your family to try!

(If you want even more ideas to explore other places from the safety of your home, check out my book, Virtual Travel Activities for Kids!)

Write a poem about Australia

Edie, my second grader, and I did this project together. (Maxine, who’s in kindergarten, was less than interested.)

We started by watching a few videos about Australia. Edie picked a few that caught her eye.

Then we brainstormed a list of words relating to Australia, based on what we learned. Edie suggested words and phrases like big sky, island, beach, Outback, stars, ancient rock art and more. Then she came up with some sentences about traveling there, like “I will get to see lots of animals and take pictures with my camera.”

Next, we matched words that rhyme, like didgeridoo and Kakadu. 

Then we began to build descriptive stanzas of a poem around these. Full disclosure, I helped more with this part. 

Edie was so proud of the poem we created!

I want to Go to Australia

by Edie + Catherine

From big wide sky and waterfalls
To red desert rocks and white sands,
This continent has so much to see
Within the diverse island.

Listen for the unique sound 
Of the famous digeridoo.
Then look for creatures found only here:
Wombat, peacock spider and emu.

I will get to see lots of animals—
Platypus, dolphin, kangaroo.
We can visit Aboriginal sites
Like sacred Kata Tjutu and Uluru.

Filled with clown fish, coral, sharks
And sea turtles: The Great Barrier Reef
Is beautiful but in danger,
A wonder beyond belief.

I want to go to Australia!

Uluru & Kata Tjura National Park, Australia. Photo by Ondrej Machart on Unsplash

Create your own pictographs like those in Kakadu National Park

One of the first videos we watched during our virtual travels to Australia included a short clip about Aboriginal rock paintings. That sparked the girls’ curiosity so we explored more.

We first watched a short video about Aboriginal rock art so we could learn about this tradition dating back 40,000 years in Australia.

 

We learned about the Dreamtime and how the rock paintings of Australia depict stories. This initial step—education and context—is important. I want us all to learn about and appreciate the culture this art comes from, rather than appropriate it without understanding any of its history.

Next, I cut the bottom off paper grocery sacks so they made long, flat rectangles to represent stone walls. Edie and Max used brown, red, peach and black crayons to mimic the colors of the rock paintings in Kakadu National Park in Australia.

We then crumpled the paper to make it look bumpy like a rock wall. Using tacks, I hung the paper bags on the wall.

Maxine and Edie then used a magnifying glass to discover and study the cave art!

I can’t wait to visit the most impressive examples of Aboriginal rock art in person. In the meantime, we’ll continue to explore our own petroglyphs, just as an archaeologist would.

“Photoshop” your kids into Australia pictures

When we do virtual travel from home, my kids love to see themselves in the destinations where our imaginations travel. That’s why I “photoshop” their picture into a scene from the country we virtually visit. I wrote a step-by-step tutorial on replacing backgrounds in your photos. It explains how to do it in a few easy steps without special software or any tech skills.

Here, Maxine and Edie are swimming in the crystal clear waters of Green Island. This island is off the coast of Cairns on the Great Barrier Reef.

Edie and Max also wanted to see koalas so we “visited” a eucalyptus grove. Maxine researched koalas for a homeschool preschool project and has fallen in love with these adorable critters. Look closely and you’ll see her mama and baby koala toy. (This is the koala stuffie Maxine bought with her own money she’d saved up—affiliate link.)

My kids are beyond goofy when it comes to posing for pictures. This is what they do when I say “Ok, pose!”

And when we eventually visit Australia in person, we’ll definitely explore the Outback. In the meantime, as we travel from home, Maxine and Edie rode their scooters in the gorgeous red desert.

Recreate dot art

When I think of traditional art in Australia, I imagine dot art—the detailed and intricate Aboriginal style of painting. That’s why we wanted to make our own versions of dot painting.

First, we watched this video about Aboriginal dot painting.

 

We learned that these paintings communicate stories, and that symbols often represent ideas, places or things. 

Edie also remembered that a group would typically paint only one type of animal. She decided our family group would paint turtles. 

This technique is quite easy.

How to do dot painting: 

1. Draw an outline, or print out a silhouette, of an animal.
2. Dip a cotton swab in paint and press the tip of the swab onto the paper to make a dot. 
3. Continue making paint dots around the inside edge of the animal outline. 
4. Choose another color of paint. Start another line of dots inside the first line.
5. Continue painting dots until the silhouette is full.

Learn about Australian currency

One of my favorite things about traveling to another country is looking at the currency! I love taking in all the details, from the colors to the words to the entire design. 

We aren’t physically going to Australia (yet) but I wanted Max and Edie to see Australian money anyway. So I incorporated money play into our Australia virtual travel activities.

I printed out a custom Australia currency worksheet from Homeschool Math. (It’s free!) Edie had a hard time adding up the currency, since she’s not familiar with the different coins. We ended up just cutting out the money and playing store.

You can download the Australian Money Worksheet we used here.

You can also learn a lot about a country by looking closely at its currency. For example, the AU $5 banknote depicts a young Queen Elizabeth II. Why would Australia have the monarch of the United Kingdom on its currency?! This is an opportunity to explain the British Commonwealth and the UK’s former colonization of what is now Australia. 

Did you know: The Australian dollar replaced the Australian pound in 1966!

Go on an Australia scavenger hunt

Who doesn’t like scavenger hunts?! This twist on a virtual travel scavenger hunt incorporates things we learned about another country—in this case, Australia.

First, my kids picked and watched two videos about Australia. We talked about a few things we learned, what they liked most and what they found surprising.

Next, I gave them “clues” relating to Australia they had to then find. (Note: You can have your kids bring the item to you or take photos of the items with your phone. I recommend using pictures because there’s much less clean-up afterwards!)

For example, I said, “Find something the color of the water in the Great Barrier Reef.” Other clue ideas include something

• the color of eucalyptus leaves
• the shape of an emu’s eyes
• the color of the Sydney Opera House
• that is surrounded by water

My final clue: “Find something the shape of platypus teeth.” Edie scrunched up her face in thought for a moment. Then Maxine announced, “Platypuses don’t have teeth!” Hahaha, it was a trick clue!

Track Australian animals

Australia is home to some of the world’s most unique animals. Most marsupials (such as koalas, wombats and kangaroos) live on this island/continent. And nearly all of the world’s most venomous snakes live here too!

To start, we watched this video about Australian animals. Push play or find another video if you prefer.

Then tell your kids you’re going to create animal tracks. They can choose one animal (Maxine is semi-obsessed with koalas) or many (Edie never half-does anything).

Start by doing a google image search for that animals’ footprints or tracks. Your kids will use this as a resource.

Practice by drawing the tracks on a piece of paper. Meanwhile, cut a piece of craft foam paper into small pieces. Ours were about 2 inches x 1.5 inches.

Next, draw the footprint on the piece of foam with a ballpoint pen. Color it in. The color doesn’t matter so much as pressing down on the foam. An adult can help younger kids color the entire inside—it’ll stamp better that way.

Finally, press the piece of foam footprint-side-down onto a stamp pad. Lay the piece of foam ink-side down on a piece of paper and press it flat, being careful to not move it around (or else it will smudge). Carefully lift up the piece of foam. Now you have an animal footprint!

Chances are, you’ll be like us and want to go to Australia even more after your virtual travels. Whether you’re looking for homeschool ideas or activities to supplement your online learning, these travel from home projects will keep you and your kids exploring the world—even if you can’t leave home.