Pages

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Our Continent Bags - Australia

Whew! At last - the seventh and final bag in my Continent Bag Series!

This bag wouldn't be what it is if it weren't for some very generous and kind Aussies. Honestly, what a bunch of lovely people live in that country! Makes me hope I have the honor of visiting the Land Down Under some day.

Here's what's inside:

Postcards and pictures. A few of these postcards are from my childhood pen pals, but most are from the some lovely Australian readers!

Animals and three part cards. The animal designs card was a part of a lovely package of Australian goodies I received from wonderful blogger and super mum, Elise, of Inspiration Surrounds, Creativity Abounds.

Books. The True Book is part of this series, I found the Animals of Australia book here in the apothecary shop and the Aussie Numbers book is from Elise.


Food - a tube of Vegemite (can't wait to try this!), three part cards, and a recipe for Anzac Bikkies from a lovely reader named Kate.

Music and artwork. You can find the awesome aboriginal art in this post from Montessori Tidbits.

Money and stamps. Both sets are from Google Images.

Souvenirs. The stickers and the boomerang are more fab gifts from Elise, the boomerang came with some paints so James can decorate it himself! The mask is from Papua New Guinea. Now, I know there's some contention as to which continent (Asia or Australia) PNG belongs too, and from what I can gather it's actually divided between both. So that's what I'm going to teach James. The beautiful Maori necklace is something very special to me. It was a gift from one of my very first bloggy friends and a beautiful Aussie, Daria. Her husband is Maori and they chose this necklace for me while they traveled to New Zealand. You can read more about bone necklaces and their meanings here. They are hand carved and no two are alike. I'm told it's especially significant if one has been blessed by a Maori, such as mine was.

Flags for Australia and New Zealand.

I hope you've enjoyed this photo tour of our Australia Continent Bag. You may also enjoy these other posts from my Continent Bag Series:
Our Continent Bags
Our Continent Bags - Storage
Our Continent Bags - North America
Our Continent Bags - Asia
Our Continent Bags - Europe
Our Continent Bags - Antarctica
Our Continent Bags - Africa
Our Continent Bags - South America

Also check out my Continent Bags photo album on the Counting Coconuts Facebook page.

I'm linking this post up to The Preschool Corner and Montessori Monday.


~Thank you for your comments!~

14 comments:

  1. I just LOVE this idea! I look forward to making my own.
    Blessings,
    Dawn

    ReplyDelete
  2. So glad you've got Vegemite to try! May I suggest making toast with lashings of butter, and a thin scrape of Vegemite. It's feel good food.

    ReplyDelete
  3. G'day Mari-Ann,

    nice layout on your blog!

    re the continent bags, couple of things to consider;

    1. If u try Vegemite, MODERATION is KEY!! Many visitors make mistake of scooping spoonfuls up and then almost pass out from horror! It is best enjoyed in VERY THIN LAYER across well buttered bread, toast or crackers...very small amounts, with lots of drippy butter (not margarine) and it's also good with sliced cheese, or a bit of avocado!

    2. New Zealand is totally separate from Australia, a fact the Kiwi's (new zealanders) are very keen to impress upon all and sundry. Fair enough too, N.Z. is a unique land, and although I am an Aussie, I can honestly say the Kiwi is the most friendly, relaxed and helpful person you could meet - always pick a Kiwi for customer service, they are just lovely people!

    3. The PNG issue is contentious, given the long period of political instability in that region. The 'ownership' status has been argued over for decades, but should just be considered as belonging to the Papuans!

    4. The flags you depicted are only the Imperial British Colony flags, and a serious omission was that of the Aboriginal flag...red, black and gold.

    5. You signed off saying you hoped we had enjoyed the tour of South America, but it was Australia! Easy to do when you're rushed, thought you would like to know tho!

    I think it's wonderful you want to broaden your children's horizons and are doing it in such an engaging and clever way - anything learned in this way is far more likely to be retained for the long term! Because it's so attractive and FUN!!

    Well done, and I sure hope you get to come and explore the land down under, meet fuzzy-wuzzy angels and duck over to the land of the long white cloud!

    Peace,
    shanti

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for your comments!

    @Shanti, thanks so much for all your observations. I've heard about the proper way of trying out Vegemite from several Aussies, so I can only assume it must be very strong indeed!

    I do know that New Zealand is a separate country from Australia, but it is considered a part of the Australia continent as a whole. Some refer to the continent as Oceania or Australasia, while others simply call it Australia.

    I absolutely agree with you on your third point.

    My apologies for omitting the Aboriginal flag; please know it was not intentional and that I meant no offense whatsoever. I simply purchased the flags which were available on the site I ordered from and based on what my budget could afford. I'll be sure to clarify them to my son when the time comes.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a lot of wonderful things for studying Australia! I hope you post after you've tried the Vegemite. It looks... interesting. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great job as always! Love that you included the Vegemite too!! Kerri

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love your Aussie bag!!!

    Not sure if you have state outline and flag 3 part cards but I have them in my printables -

    http://ourworldwideclassroom.blogspot.com/2010/02/free-printable-australian-states-3-part.html

    http://ourworldwideclassroom.blogspot.com/2010/02/free-printable-australian-flags-3-part.html

    Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I hope that you are in a position to come to Australia too! I would love to meet you face to face.

    Thank you for your kind words and linking to my blog. I am hoping that James is enjoying some of the Aussie goodies.

    Your continent bags are such brilliant resources. You could open an Etsy store filled with wonderful learning kits as you always have so many new and creative ideas.

    ReplyDelete
  9. So what did you think of Vegemite!!!
    We loved it as kids on crackers with butter. Then you squeeze two together and get vegemite worms coming out of the holes.
    I love this idea and I am thinking it would be a great idea for my brothers children overseas as an exchange thing. We send them something from Australia and they send us something from Europe.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I've always wanted to travel to Australia, such a marvelous country. Where did you get the tube of vegemite from?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your Continent bags have been such a huge inspiration to me!! They are like a gold standard :))
    Thank you for sharing them!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love your Continent Bags! Thanks for sharing. I recently taught a unit on Australia in my pre-k class. Anyway, Mem Fox is an Australian writer of children's books. Many of her books would be a great addition to your Australian "bag". Possum Magic, Koala Lou, and Wombat Divine to name a few. Koala Lou is my favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  13. My daughter recently became obsessed with all things Australian and I was searching for fun things to do with her to help her learn more about everything Down Under when I remembered your fabulous continent bags. Thank you so much for sharing them- this one will definitely come in handy!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by my blog!
I appreciate your comments so much - after all, comments are what make the blog world go around!
Just a reminder: I moderate all comments before they're published, so if you don't see your comment appear right away, that's why!
Cheers, Mari-Ann :)