Kindergarteners Go Around The World: Week 21 ~ Australia

This post is part of the series “Around the World in 28 Weeks: Art, Literature & Geography Lessons for Kindergarten.” For an introduction, overview of the entire course, and links to more lesson plans, please click here. Thank you for visiting Cotton Ridge Homeschool!

Introduction to Week 21

This week you will be returning with the children in your class to the continent of Oceania and traveling to the country of Australia. You can do the lesson plan activities in the order that you prefer.

Below is a Printable Lesson Plan Schedule for the entire 28 weeks and a blank lesson plan grid. Just click on the thumbnails below to open and view. For best results, download to your computer or open in Adobe Reader before printing.

Prep Work

Print PDFs below for watercolor paintings
Gather books and supplies (see checklists below)
Print out handouts and 3-hole punch them for notebooks (see checklists below)

Thanks for joining us!

Disclosure: The books and supply links below lead to products on Amazon. I am an affiliate and will receive a small commission if these links are used to make a purchase.

Week 21 Lesson Plan

Date and Destination

Date: First Week of March**
Continent: Oceania
Country: Australia

Pretend Passport: Please see Week 2 for suggestions on how to use the Play Passports during your lesson. Below are free printable Passport Stamps. Please click here for free Airline Tickets, and Cruise Ship Tickets printables. Just click on the thumbnails below to open and view. For best viewing/printing results, open in Adobe Reader.

Reading (10 – 15 minutes)

Story: The Selfish Sand Frog and the How the Kangaroo Got Its Tail from The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book (stories from Australia)

Discussion: Define unfamiliar terms. Ask questions to determine reading comprehension; tailor these to your children’s ages and abilities. Depending on the size of your class and as time permits, try to allow each child to participate. Don’t drag this part on too long or your kids will lose interest. Here are a few to get you started:

Which was your favorite story? Why?
What was your favorite part? Who was your favorite character?
Questions based on the Who?, What?, Why?, When?, and How? of a story are great for getting kids thinking.

Geography (5 – 15 minutes)

Globe or Wall Map Activity: With your class,

find the Continent of Oceania
find the country of Australia
find the capitol: Canberra.

I have been allowing the kids to take turns putting little dot stickers on the country we visit on our wall map each week. They have really enjoyed this little extra!

Map Handout*: Pass out the Map Handout to your class and allow them to color the page as time permits. You may want this to be the last activity of your class so they can be kept busy until the next class starts or until their parents pick them up. Have the kids place their handouts in their World Traveler Notebook (3-ring binder) before they leave.

Below is a free printable Map Handout in PDF format. Just click on the thumbnail below to open and view. For best results, download to your computer or open in Adobe Reader before printing.

Art (30 – 40 minutes)

Watercolor Animal Paintings

You Will Need:

Watercolor paints
Paintbrushes
Cups of water
Paper towel for each student
Kangaroo and Frog Pages, printed on card stock (download below)
Paint shirts
Tablecloth to protect work surface

Pass out the kangaroo and frog pages (printed out on card stock) and other art materials (see list above) to your students, and describe how to paint with watercolors.

Watercolor painting with kids: explain that you put a little water on the paintbrush, dip in one color of paint, then paint on the paper. More water will dilute the color – if paintbrush has too much water, blot slightly on paper towel. Too much water, and your paper will be soaked. Don’t paint the same spot on your paper, or you can create a hole in it. Rinse paintbrush between colors.

Encourage the kids to paint the background, too.

Just click on thumbnail below to open and view. For best results, open in Adobe Reader before printing.

Other Activities (10 – 15 minutes)

Facts and Flag Handout*: Pass out these handouts to your class and allow them to color the pages as time permits. You may want this to be the last activity of your class so they can be kept busy until the next class starts or until their parents pick them up. Have the kids place their handouts in their World Traveler Notebook (3-ring binder) before they leave.

Just click on thumbnail below to open and view. For best results, open in Adobe Reader before printing.

*If there is not time in class, provide these as handouts for the kids to do at home. The pages can go in their World Traveler Notebooks as a record of their journeys.

**Our homeschool coop begins during the last week of August, but the Around the World course can be started at any time of year. Some re-arranging of the weekly plans may be necessary due to holidays, but with a little planning ahead of time, this should be very manageable.

Supply Lists

General Supply List

Globe or large World Wall Map
3-Ring Binder for each child for handouts, 1-1/2″ size
3-Hole Punch
Date Stamp
Markers, crayons, and/or colored pencils
Roll of paper towels
Computer and Printer (color printer is recommended)

Week 21 Supply List

The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book
Passports and World Traveler Notebooks for each child from Week 1
Printables from this post: Travel Tickets, Passport Stamps, Map Handout, and Facts & Flag Handout