Ideas for Children and Families to Celebrate Australia Day

Australia Day 26 January, is a special day for all Australians. It is a time to celebrate, to learn from our past and look to our future. It's a day for rejoicing in the many things that make Australia great.

There are so many fantastic Aussie activities you can do on Australia Day. They don't need to cost much and they will get the whole family involved, and maybe even the neighbourhood . Imagination and a sense of fun are all that's needed for a celebration full of all things Australian. Here's some ideas to get you started. If you have more ideas, please let us know at the Australia Day Council. We'll add them to the Australia Day ideas list.

Happy Australia Day!

• Include an Indigenous opening in your Australia Day celebrations
• Have an Australia Day concert. Organise your own concert at home - become a bush poet or put together a bush band to entertain your family
• Hold an Australia Day Quiz to mark Australia Day. See how many Australian icon's you can think of ….consider floral emblems, food, people, animals, bands, artists, sports, beach culture, etc)
• Organise a flag raising ceremony with your family. Hang the Australian Flag from windows
• Have an Aussie sausage sizzle, pie or even an Aussie Veggie Barbie with baked damper and billy tea. Stir your billy tea with a gum twig for a real smell of the bush. Invite the neighbours over
• Arrange a presentation about your family or community history and heritage and invite local families to attend
• Arrange for school, church and other bells to be rung at a set time on Australia Day - you can do it!
• Ask local shopkeepers to put in Australia Day window displays and flags and tell everyone to go and have a look
• Make your garden, house or school colourful with balloons in our Australian colours of green and gold
• Create a heritage trail at your local parkland. Ask your local council to support you.
• Create an Australia Day garden in Australian colours
• Create an Australia Day planter with herbs, vegetables or flowers in Australia Day colours - wrap the pot with green and gold coloured ribbons and present it to the family

• Decorate your Australia Day lunch or dinner table with green and gold capsicums. Add some mini Australian flags and drink a toast to Australia with some iced billy tea
• Summer and Australia Day are synonymous. Build an Australia Day sand castle. Shape it like a flag, an Aussie thong, a cockatoo, kangaroo or koala
• Take a canvas sun hat and hang corks on it - Aussie style! Get out your Vegemite sandwiches and give three cheers for Australia
• Make an Australia Day cake. Decorate it with the Aussie flag, or in colours of green and gold
• Play the gum leaf - see what great sounds come from the bush
• Have a competition to see who is the most Dinki-Di Aussie of your family and friends. See who know the most about Australia and its traditions, popular icons, singers, poets etc
• Get out your Australia Day songbook and put the family's vocal chords on record, perhaps accompanied by an Aussie wobble board
• Make an Aussie mask - koalas, kangaroos, crocodile, famous faces …think, singers, sports stars, etc
• Have a Cooee calling competition
• Make lamingtons and give them to your neighbours
• Create a mural using Aussie icons and colours and bushland found objects
• Learn to play the didgeridoo. Test out your lungs to see if you can make a good sound
• Go to an Indigenous cultural event or gallery showing Australian Aboriginal work. Find out more about the dreamtime and the stories behind the work
• Try some bush food (also known as bush tucker). Ask an Aboriginal friend to tell you more
• Plan a sports carnival and get the whole street or community involved. Include friends from other cultures and show them what's good about Australia
• Summer is Aussie cricket time so organise an Australia Day cricket match
• Make an Australia Day diary or mobile. Paste in photos and stories from newspapers. Collect family stories and pictures. Include a gumleaf book mark. Date it with the year and keep your Austalia Day diaries and mobiles for celebrations each year
• Think about our heritage and try to learn more about the Indigenous culture. Check out your local library for all things Australian
• Become an Australian inventor - and think of ways to make life better for all Australians
• Read a book about Australia - fact or fiction. Tell a friend about the book and its contents
• Feast it - feast together on Australia Day by getting everyone to bring along an addition to your Australia Day Feast
• Picnic it! Australians picnic on the beach, by the river, near the dam or in the back yard - whatever the location, an Australia Day Picnic puts everyone in the mood for sharing and celebrating. With Australia's multicultural heritage there's no shortage of creative dishes to add to the mix
• Decorate your dog or cat's collar with Australian colours
• Research famous Australians and then hold a 'Who's Who' Quiz session
• Paint the Australian flag on your cheek
• Slogan it! Think up your own great Aussie slogan. Get everyone to join in and tell you theirs
• Decorate the school room or your bedroom with things Australian. Talk it up!
• Design and send an invitation to a friend asking them to celebrate Australia Day with you
• Make your own Australia Day website….celebrate our great day and tell overseas friends about it. Use pictures from your own Australia Day celebrations
• Send an Australia Day greeting to friends around the corner, around Australia or overseas
• Design a questionnaire about Australia Day. Carry out the survey, analyse the result, map out an Australia Day campaign and send us your ideas
• Get everyone a 'coldie holder' with an Australian flag on it. Use it for your cold drinks on Australia Day and every day
• Speak it! Make a list of the issues about living in Australia that are of concern to you. Organise a panel of adults to listen to your opinions and to comment on the issues.
• Make an Australia Day necklace. Thread green and gold beads, or let your Aussie juices flow - make it from found objects, gumnuts, feathers etc. Paint the objects or leave them natural so you can enjoy the smells of Australia
• Put together 101 questions about Australia that can be used on your own or your school's quiz night
• Remember January 26. Think of 26 good things about Australia. Put 26 candles on an Australia Day cake. Think about what a lucky country Australia is

• Create a park or dedicate one to a resident who has contributed to the community
• Get in touch with your local council and ask them to decorate the main streets and plazas with banners, flags and symbols
• Ask your local library to establish a local hall of fame for active citizens and residents who have contributed to the Australian way of life
• Get everyone to make a footprint in a local park or picnic area. It can be temporary in sand or permanent in concrete
• Have the historical society or local museum hold an exhibition of Australian history and the origins of Australia Day
• Hold a clean-up project to preserve the environment
• Plant a living rainbow. This involves planting groups of trees on nearby slopes. You plant different colours every year until a living rainbow is created. Alternatively you can build it all in one year
• Re-enact an episode from your district's history and link it to national and community pride
• Rejuvenate a creek or stream and dedicate it on Australia Day
• Start an Australia Day veggie patch. Dress your scarecrow is Aussie colours
• Research the history of your street, park or area and compile a booklet of information (it could be useful to tourists). Talk to older residents to gain their insights into the Australian identity
• Set up a youth parliament and debate the celebration of Australia Day
• Start up an Australia Day foster grandparent scheme and bring happiness into some people's lives for the day
• Tape record older residents talking about the town history and have the tapes placed in the local library. You can do it!
• Think of things to do with 26. For example place 26 candles on an Australia Day cake or use cake moulds to make a cake in the shape of the numbers two and six. Ice them in green and gold
• Toast Australia at a set time. Invite your neighbours to join a community Australia Day toast
• Write to communities overseas and ask how they celebrate their national day. Set up a correspondence exchange program with an overseas town or city for Australia Day each year
• Plant a tree and call it the Australia Day Tree. Watch it grow. It symbolises the growth of community pride

Get Involved. Celebrate Australia Day on 26 January

Make your celebrations memorable. Theme parties and activities with Australian merchandise, including serviettes, flags, bunting etc from the ADCWA. Visit our Merchandise page to view our great range of Australia themed items available for purchase to help you celebrate your Australia Day.

Purchases of Australia Day merchandise help support the work and activities of the Australia Day Council of Western Australia.

Telephone:  (08) 9325 9988

Facsimile:   (08) 9325-9977
Email:         info@ausdaywa.com.au