Journey Steps - Activity Instructions

Tune In

Invite the children to sit quietly in a circle. Read aloud an Acknowledgement of Country. Explain to the children that, ‘We do this to say thank you to Country. It is important to look after Country because Country looks after us.’

Ask the children to close their eyes and listen as you play the soundscape, ‘Footsteps on dry grass’.

After listening, use the following questions to guide a discussion:

What sounds did they hear?
Where do they think the person might be going? How do they know where to go?
If we want to go somewhere new, how do we know how to get there? (Ask for directions, use a map or their car/phone.)

Tell the children you want to go somewhere special to read them a story. Choose a place in your room or your centre (preferably a fair distance away!) and explain that is where you are going to go to read the story. Explain that you have forgotten how to get there and that the children will need to give you directions. Ask the children what sort of directions they could give you to explain how you get there. As children talk about the directions, look out for:

Landmarks (e.g. ‘Go to that big tree’)
Directional words (e.g. ‘Turn left, go straight’)
Distances (e.g. ‘Take 5 steps, go all the way to the fence, keep going until…’.)

Once the children have understood directions, explain that you will be the leader, they will follow you, and you will follow the directions they give you. Stand up and ask for the first direction. Follow the children’s directions until you reach your destination.

It’s a great idea to be really pedantic when following the directions. If they say ‘go to the sand pit’ and you can’t see it, insist that you have no idea where the sand pit is. If they say ‘go to the door’, go to the door and stop and ask what's next? If they say ‘turn around’, do a full circle on the spot. This helps the children refine their ideas and practise using more directional words.

Find Out

Once you have successfully reached your new location, sit the children down in a circle. Thank them for giving such great directions and explain that you will read a story together as a celebration.

Invite children to close their eyes and listen as you share a First Nations Songlines Story. Share how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples use songlines to navigate Country. Explain that songlines are very special and not only do they tell us how to get from one place to another, but they also tell us the history of the Country and how it was made, where the good places are to find food, water and shelter, and about the people of the Country you are walking through. What an amazing map!

Ask the children, ‘If we were to sing a map about our places and the Country we are on, what would we sing about?’ With the children, identify the special places in your community and discuss where they are in relation to each other. Identify directional words and phrases the children use, like:

‘down the road’
‘go straight ahead’
‘next to …’
‘on the other side’
‘over there’

You can use this as an opportunity to reinforce directional words and their meaning, including ‘left’, ‘right’, ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘ahead’, ‘behind’, ‘forward’, and ‘backwards’. Encourage the children to share the story of their special places. What makes it special to you?

Learning support: If your community is too big, shrink the space you talk about to just your learning centre or your room. Where is their favourite place to play? Where do they wash their hands? Where do they keep their bags?

Choose 2 places in your community that your children know, for example, their Early Learning Centre and the Library they have visited on a walking excursion or a nearby playground. Can they tell you how to get from one place to another? Guide children to use directional words and landmarks to give directions from one place to another.

Learning extension: You can write down the directions the children give you and when you have an opportunity, test them out. Do the directions take you to where you need to go? If you can’t do this in person, you could try using Street View on Google Maps and ‘walking’ down the road. Help the children adjust their directions so they can get from one place to the other.

Take Action

Set up a play area with a town. You might use a mat with trees, roads and buildings, or you could encourage the children to help you make the trees, creeks, roads, buildings and other landmarks out of recycled materials. Make sure the children have access to people and vehicle toys to use around the town.

Encourage the children to give directions to educators and each other. Pick up a toy car and pretend that you need to go to the shop to buy some chocolate. Ask the children to give you directions. Encourage the children to swap between giving and following directions. Reinforce the use of directional language terms.

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