Australia Unit Study | Geography Curriculum & Hands-On Activities for Kids

Discover Australia with our hands-on, literature-based unit study that includes lessons in geography, language arts, science, music, math, and more.

Read Stories from the Billabong and Music for Tigers, discover Australia’s unique marsupials and monotremes, and explore the country’s landmarks and geographical features through mapwork and notebooking activities.

Along the way, you’ll meet Australian artists Emily Kam Kngwarray and Sidney Nolan, explore the sounds of the didgeridoo, learn about traditional dilly bags, choose from a collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander games to play, prepare sausage rolls and lamingtons, and listen to traditional stories from Australia with Circle Round.

✅ What's Included:

• Australia Notebooking Page: Students record important facts, color the national flag, document their favorite discoveries, and draw scenes from Australia’s geography, culture, plants, and wildlife.
• Australia Mapwork Activity: Students will locate major cities, geographical features, and cultural landmarks on an outline map and are encouraged to personalize their maps with illustrations, labels, and symbols that reflect what they’ve learned about the country.
• Literature Study: Read Stories from the Billabong, a collection of traditional Yorta Yorta stories, and Music for Tigers by Michelle Kadarusman while completing guided discussion questions and extension activities.
• Circle Round: Listen to several folktales from Australia and follow up with guided writing activities based on Judith C. Hochman’s The Writing Revolution method.
• The Writing Revolution Resources: Build writing skills with sentence-based exercises that connect directly to what students are learning about Australia.
• Marsupials & Monotremes: Discover what makes these unusual groups of mammals different, meet some of Australia’s unique wildlife, and complete a guided science notebooking activity.
• Elapsed Time Task Cards: Build real-world math skills by solving elapsed time problems connected to places throughout Australia.
• Artist Studies: Meet Aboriginal Australian artist Emily Kam Kngwarray and explore her connection to Country through art and discover how Sidney Nolan used paintings to tell stories from Australian history.
• Music Appreciation: Explore the didgeridoo, learn about its origins in Aboriginal cultures of northern Australia, and listen to its distinctive sound.
• Creative Arts: Learn about traditional dilly bags, the natural materials and weaving techniques used to make them, and practice weaving with a simple hands-on activity.
• Cooking Class: Learn how to prepare three Australian favorites: savory sausage rolls, chocolate-covered lamingtons, and fairy bread.
• Global Games: Explore the Yulunga Traditional Indigenous Games collection and choose several Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander games that work for your family or group.

✅ Bonus Materials:

• Printable Global Explorers Cookbook Page for Australia
• Discover Australia: Bingo Challenge activity sheet
• Australia Unit Overview Sheet
• Access to our optional digital planning tool in Notion
• Plus, more than a dozen extra printable resources, such as book passports, food chain pyramid templates, and more!

Format: Printable PDF + Optional Digital Access

Best For: Homeschoolers, co-ops, enrichment, Montessori continent studies, and classroom geography units

Why Choose Global Explorers?

At the Global Explorers Club, we believe geography should be an adventure and not just a list of places to memorize. Our secular, literature-based unit studies allow children to explore the world through living books, hands-on activities, mapwork, and meaningful cultural experiences. Designed for flexible, family-style learning, each study encourages curiosity, critical thinking, and a deeper appreciation for the people, places, and traditions that make our world unique.