Australian Folk Songs

In what seems like, my never ending quest, to find Australian resources for our year, I stumbled across this little blog.

Oz Folk Song A Day

Here you can find a whole host of traditional Australian folk songs. I haven't been able to get the Aeroplane Jelly song out of my head for days....sorry if that happens to you too ;-)

I had no idea there was an Australian Alphabet Song. I'm yet to listen to that one but hope it is fun for the kids. Here's the first chorus or two:

A is for Australia, the land in which we are;
B is for the bush, my boys, which stretches near and far;
C is for the cattle which we are paid to mind
D is for the dingo, a treacherous brute you'll find.


CHORUS:
So, my Australian brothers, I hope that you will see
Signs of the times in our A B C.


E is for the eagle hawk, which plays havoc with our flocks;
F is for that little wretch - I mean the flying fox;
G is for the gray-flyer, a kind of kangaroo;
H is for the horse, my boys, we all have one or two.

I have a feeling we could get quite stuck on this little blog. I hope you enjoy it!

Classic Australian Songs with Printable

In the lead up to Australia Day we are working through our Printable Australia Day unit and learning the words to some classic Australian songs.

The kids basically know these, just from growing up and hearing them over the years, but we are practicing daily at getting those lyrics down.









Some of these classic songs have recently been published into children's picture books, with CD's on the inside cover. I thought this was a great way to keep these songs alive with the younger generation.

Waltzing Matilda, often regarded as Australia's unofficial National Anthem, tells the story of the struggles endured by shearers in the outback in the 1800's.

Advance Australia Fair, Australia's official National Anthem, was first sung in Sydney in 1878. This picture book version contains paintings from some of Australia's finest artists.








I thought this was a great way to capture the essence of the anthem, through the images of Australian artists.









A Home Among The Gum Trees, is an iconic Australian song. I doubt there would be an Australian adult, that grew up in Australia, that doesn't know this song.

It was remiss of me to not include it in the Australia Day Printable unit, so I have included a download here.

Download the file by clicking here.