Let's Yarn About Places, Animals & Plants | Volume One [FREE GUIDE]

A free resource for early years educators bringing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into everyday learning.

Download your free copy and join a community of educators embedding culture, Country and connection into their early years programmes.

Bring Country into your classroom, the respectful, ready-to-use way

As an early year’s educator, you already know how naturally curious little ones are about the world around them. The bounding wallaby, the cheeky cockatoo, the towering fig tree in the local park — these everyday wonders are the perfect doorway to something far deeper.

But when it comes to weaving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into your programme, it can feel daunting. Where do you start? How do you do it respectfully? How do you find information that's accurate, age-appropriate and genuinely useful for the under-fives?

That's exactly why we created Let's Yarn About Places, Animals & Plants – Volume One.

What's inside this free eBook?

This beautifully presented resource brings together 18 of Australia's most-loved places, animals and plants, each explored through an informative, culturally respectful lens. For every entry, you'll find:

1. A clear, engaging overview — the key facts about each animal, plant or place, written in plain, accessible language.
2. An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective — cultural significance, traditional uses, Dreaming connections and their importance to Country.
3. A hands-on early learning activity — a simple, practical experience you can run with your group tomorrow, designed to embed the cultural perspective through play.

Volume One features:

• Animals: Possums, Grey-headed Flying Foxes, Quokkas, Sugar Gliders, Cockatoos and Wallabies
• Plants: Grevillea, Coastal Rosemary, Lilly Pilly, Emu Bush, Wollemi Pine and the Moreton Bay Fig
• Places: K'gari, Ningaloo Reef, The Grampians (Gariwerd), The Bungle Bungle Range (Purnululu), the wukalina Walk and The Kimberley

From the sand island paradise of K'gari to the ancient, living-fossil Wollemi Pine, each page is a little invitation to yarn, wonder and explore together.

Why educators love this resource

• Ready to use. No hours of research, no second-guessing. Just open it up and go.
• Genuinely respectful. Every entry has been carefully researched with cultural sensitivity at its heart, always encouraging you to connect with your local Traditional Owners and community.
• Curriculum-friendly. Perfectly aligned with embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, sustainability and connection to Country — supporting your work towards the Early Years Learning Framework.
• Play-based and practical. Each activity is designed for little hands and big imaginations, using simple materials you likely already have.
• Perfect for celebrating. Wonderful for NAIDOC Week, National Reconciliation Week, or simply every ordinary, extraordinary day of the year.

A note on culture and respect

We know that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures are living, diverse and deeply connected to place. Knowledge, stories and language vary enormously between different nations and language groups.

This resource is designed as a starting point, a way to spark curiosity, conversation and respect. We warmly encourage you to walk alongside your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, Elders and education services to deepen and localise what your children learn. The best yarning always happens together.

Ready to start yarning?

Bringing culture, Country and connection into your early years programme has never felt more achievable.

Enter your email below and we'll send Volume One straight to your inbox, completely free.

By downloading, you'll also join our community of passionate educators, receiving practical ideas, fresh resources and gentle inspiration to help you embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives with confidence. (No spam, ever, and you can unsubscribe anytime.)