Step 2: Bend the pipe cleaner in the middle to create two legs and then bend the two ends slightly to create emu feet.
Step 3: On the front side of the paper plate, middled on the cut side, tape the pipe cleaner on the big bend.
Step 4: Cut out a long neck and a simple bird head with beak out of grey paper and then glue the neck on the front side of the plate along the plate curve.
Step 5: Turn the plate over to the backside which should be white.
Step 6: Use a black marker to colour in the emu beak and either glue the googly eye to the emu head or draw in an eye.
Step 7: Cut out small pieces of grey, brown and black paper and glue them to the back side of the paper plate as the emus feathers.
Step 8: Allow the craft to dry. You can play with the emu or display it.
Uluru Outback Art:
Uluru (once known as Ayers Rock) is one of Australia's most recognizable natural landmarks so it only felt right to include an art project to showcase this important and beautiful indigenous site. It is a large sandstone monolith near the centre of Australia in the southern part of the Northern Territory. It is a very sacred place to the Pitjantjatjara Aboriginal People of the area. I had the privilege of travelling there and it is the most amazing natural wonder I have ever seen and the photos do not do it justice.
Materials: A copy of my Uluru Template, crayons or markers, child-safe scissors, white craft paper for painting, watercolour paints (plus water and a brush), glue-stick.
CRAFTS
Australia
Photo: CW
AUSTRALIA STICKER COLLAGE:
Materials: Coloured paper, stickers with Australian animals or symbols on them (many craft stores sell these), markers and crayons.
Step 1: Give your preschool child the stickers and paper and have him/her either make a scene or a collage with them.
Step 2 (Optional): See if your child wants to embellish the picture with markers or crayons.
Step 1: Colour the drawing of Uluru on the printable using crayons, markers or coloured pencils. Uluru is a beautiful red orange colour.
Step 2: Cut out your coloured picture of Uluru and set it aside.
Step 3: Paint an Australian Outback background on the white paper. My one son did a orangish sunset sky and a sandy ground. My other son did a big yellow sun rusing in an orange sky with a dessert landscape. I think a bright blue sky would be lovely, too.
Step 4: Allow the paint to dry and then glue the coloured picture of Uluru along the horizon line.
Step 5: Display or glue into your Family Theme Day Scrapbook.
PRESCHOOL CRAFT IDEA
Check here to learn about some fun facts about emus!
The National Flower:
The National Flower of Australia is the Golden Wattle, also known as Acacia Pycnantha. It was first recognized as a symbol of Australia in 1838. The national colours of green and gold were inspired by the colours of this plant.
Materials: paper cardstock (thicker paper works best), yellow and yellow hued pom poms, a green marker, white glue.
Step 1: Count out how many pom poms you have. An odd amount is preferred.
Step 2: Draw a stem and stems for each of the pom poms, the last odd pom pom goes on top.
Step 3: Use white glue to attach each pom pom to each stem with the last one on top.
Step 4: Allow the glue to dry and then you can display the colourful golden wattle!
Paper Plate Emu:
Materials: a small paper plate, grey, brown and black paper, child safe scissors, (optional) one googly eye, white glue or a glue stick, one pipe cleaner, tape.
Step 1: Cut the paper plate in half.
Here’s a little YouTube video that highlights the the bright beauty of this tree and flower!
There are so many fun art projects to make when you are learning about a different country. Pick your favourite ones to make for your Australia Theme Day!
Kangaroo Pocket:
Materials: A copy of my Kangaroo Pocket Worksheet, crayons or markers, child-safe scissors, coloured paper, glue-stick.
Ask everyone in your family what their favourite Australian Animal is!
Birds of Australia
Photo: CW
Animals of Australia
There are many unique animals Down Under. The exact number of species is unknown. Australia probably has between 200,000 and 300,000 species.
Australia has many colourful and unique birds. It's worth a web search to explore the varieties. The National Bird of Australia is the emu, which is the world's second largest bird.
Here's a fun fact, as of 2025 there are 898 recorded bird species in Australia!
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Pencil Drawings:
Older kids may like the challenge of drawing an Australian Bird with pencils. There are so many birds and animals to choose from. Drawing two ovals is a good way to start a drawing of a bird.
Here's one of a parrot that my Eldest son drew.
Jerimiah the emu, yanchep national park, WA
Step 1: Colour the worksheet of the kangaroo, the pocket and the baby Joey.
Step 2: cut out the three pieces (mother Kangaroo, baby joey and pocket) or cut it out for younger children.
Step 3: Glue the mother kangaroo to a piece of coloured paper and then carefully glue the pocket to the kangaroo gluing only the side and bottom edges to create a real pocket.
Step 4: insert the baby joey into the pocket.
Step 5: Display or glue into your Family Theme Day Scrapbook.