Yamani Meta’s first celebration of National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Children’s Day (Children’s Day) was held on Friday 3 August, under the trees in the backyard of our specialist family wellbeing facility. It was a terrific day!
Not only was this year’s Children’s Day a collective 30-year celebration of this special event, but it was also a celebration of Yamani Meta and the Townsville Aboriginal Islander Health Service team of Family Well-being Workers coming together for the benefit of local children. Visitors from Playmate Childcare and Kindergarten and Headstart Kindergarten, as well as Prep students from Garbutt State School joined us for a day of activities.
Children painted clap sticks, dug in the sand, banged musical instruments, listened to storytelling, wove paper and wool and eagerly lined up to have their face painted—there were a lot of deadly snakes!
Historically, Children’s Day began as a collective birthday celebration. This was a necessary acknowledgement for the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children whose birthdays were unknown due to an era of institutional care during childhood upbringing (SNAICC). However, more recently, this day is seen as a celebration of the importance of children within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, particularly their importance as the custodians of culture.
The activities and sentiments associated with Children’s Day demonstrate the underpinning work of Yamani Meta. Celebrating, acknowledging and supporting the growth and development of children, particularly those who are within the first 1000 days of life, is important as it lays the foundation for strong families with good health, wellbeing and rich culture.
Did not make it to Yamani Meta’s celebration? Why not try one of the activities we did at home.
Paint your own ‘Clap Sticks’
You will need:
Allow children to use the paints and paintbrushes to paint the offcuts of timber or garden sticks. Encourage children to experiment with different colours. For older children, encourage them to paint a pattern using colour or shape repetition.
Have you liked the TAIHS Yamani Meta Facebook page yet? Click here to head to the page, like and keep up to date with all of the activities and programs available.
For more information contact the team at Yamani Meta today! Landline: 4759 4039 Mobile: 0491 216 355
Click to view larger versions
