How did the kangaroo get her pouch?

Would you like to hear some stories? They are very special stories that have been told for thousands of years by Aboriginal peoples about how the kangaroo got her pouch, and about a bogong moth named Myee.

In Aboriginal Australia students are introduced to the diversity of Aboriginal peoples and cultures through storytelling, object handling and gallery exploration.

Details

Year levels	P–2
Group size	30 students – two groups can run concurrently
Duration	75 minutes
Cost	$5 per student
Availability	Tuesday–Friday at 10am, 12pm, 3pm
Curriculum links	Australian History curriculum links to our programs (178kb PDF)

Aims

Introduce students to the concept of storytelling as knowledge-sharing.
Enable students to examine and understand the purpose and uses of Aboriginal tools before European settlement through to today
Assist students to explore the pre-contact lives of Aboriginal peoples prior to European settlement through the Museum's galleries.

Structure

Introductory activity – students are introduced to the concept of the Dreaming through an interactive storytelling session. As a group, students handle and discuss a range of objects that relate to Aboriginal life before 1788 and today.
Gallery activity – using a Discovery Trail, students explore the First Australians gallery to make further discoveries about the diversity of Aboriginal culture and society.
Reflection – students share with the class what objects they found most interesting in the First Australians gallery.

Exploring the Museum

You may like to allow extra time to visit other exhibitions and to explore other places in the Museum, such as Circa and Kspace. For everything you need to know about visiting, see Plan and book a visit.

Resources

You may also be interested in the following interactives:

Saibai Island canoe – catch a fish from your own canoe for a traditional Torres Strait Islander feast
Mystery object: Torres Strait Islands – use the clues to discover what the mystery object is

You can also see the full list of resources related to Indigenous Australia.