Small World Friends – Children’s Week 2021

Children’s Week is a national celebration that recognises the talents, skills, achievements and rights of children. It will run from Saturday 23 October to Sunday 31 October 2021, with thousands of Victorian children taking part in the festivities.

The theme for Children’s Week 2020-21 is Children have the right to choose their friends and safely connect with others, drawn from Article 15 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

To learn more about Children’s Week, visit the Children’s Week Council of Australia website.

We thank the generous support of City of Greater Geelong, via their Community Grants program, for making this Children’s Week activity possible.

Key messages for 2021 Geelong Children’s Week are 

Delama yerram baa kale-werango which means to ’embrace with nature and outdoors’ in the language of the Wadawurrung, traditional owners of Djilang (Geelong)

Gerrupa-tjarra baa benganak bengadak-a which means ‘connecting with others and all people at a place’ in the language of the Wadawurrung, traditional owners of Djilang (Geelong)

 Goopma bornda bengeen which means ‘bringing joy to you’ in the language of the Wadawurrung, traditional owners of Djilang (Geelong)

https://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/childrensweek/default.aspx

To find other events on in our region, visit City of Greater Geelong Children’s Week

In Your Pack

1 Wooden Person
1 Paintbrush – please use with supervision, this brush is designed for 3+ and may pose a choking hazard
People Paints – a range of skin tone paints
PVA glue
Gilly’s Food Safe Wax
A small selection of wool, felt, fabric.

Other supplies you may need
Acrylic paints in a variety of colours
Textas, Permanent Markers
Craft Supplies – fabric, ribbon, coloured paper, sequins & glitter,
Recycled materials – bottle tops, cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, cork, wire caps – anything!
Natural materials – bark, leaves, gumnuts, shells.
Cleaning supplies – old clean cloths for applying sealing wax,

Safety

Whilst all of the wooden shapes that we have provided are larger than minimum size for choking hazards for children under 3, we strongly recommend that this activity is completed with parental involvement and supervision. Some of the supplies and tools provided present choking hazards, and supervising adult should ensure appropriate use of these.

If you have children under 3 in your house, or children who still put things in their mouths, please be aware that anything that you attach to your doll may come loose and pose a choking hazard.

Information on Educational Colours ‘People Paint’, including Product Safety Sheet can be found here https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wc-prod-pim/Asset_Documents/Educational%20Colours%20Liquicryl%20Acrylic%20Paint%20SDS.pdf

Information on Gilly’s Food Safe Wax, including Product Safety Sheet can be found here https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/3012/9884/files/PDS_-_Food_Safe_Wax.pdf?v=1595397948

Information on Selley’s Aquadhere Interior, including Product Safety Sheet can be found here https://go.lupinsys.com/duluxgroup/harms/public/materials/24be28a1ad9a1e567d2b7308c08c5d4c-published/individual

Finding Inspiration

This is a great opportunity to engage with your child and talk about what type of friend they would like to create. This could represent a real person or profession, an animal, a character or fantasy figure. Below are some ideas & links we’ve curated for you – searching for peg doll decorating ideas will yield thousands of ideas!

We love the indigenous dolls created by Nunga Creations and Wurruck Yambo for inspiration.

Halloween is just around the corner – there are some great ideas on Lil Boo Blue

If you have a specific painted design in mind, we recommend using a grey lead pencil to lightly sketch in the design to follow.

Fixing Fabric and Paper to your friend

Your kit contains a small tub of PVA glue (otherwise known as white craft glue, or wood glue, in case you don’t have enough to finish).  You might also find a hot glue gun, or fabric glue useful.

Please be mindful that anything that you choose to attach may come loose and become a potential choking hazard.

Accessories for your Friend

The sky is the limit! Depending on the friend that you have made, a hat (very sunsmart) might suit – check out these videos for inspiration and how-to’s:
Straw’ Hat
Bottle Cap Hat
Acorn Hats

Finishing your completed friend

We recommend that you seal any bare or painted parts of your finished friend to ensure that they remain looking lovely even if they get wet or drooled on.

We have provided you with a small amount of Gilly’s Food Safe Wax, which, once your creation is completely dry, and free from dust should be applied sparingly with a clean, dry cloth.  Wipe any excess off with a different clean, dry cloth.  The drying time for the wax is approximately 20 minutes, provided all excess is wiped off.

Share Your Friend

We would LOVE to see what you create! Tag us on Facebook (@GrovedaleToyLibrary) or Instagram (@grovedale_toy_library) and use #grovedaletoylibrary, or email us your pictures to info@grovedaletoylibrary.org.au

Sustainability

We have tried to make this event as sustainable as possible in line with our core organisational values.  Paint pots have been sourced and donated via local zero waste groups and cleaned for reuse.  Plastic containers have been also been sourced used from members.  We invite you to reuse or recycle these responsibly, or return these, and unused craft items to the toy library for use in a future activity. We send a huge thank you to members of our community who have contributed to help us deliver this activity sustainably!

Some craft supplies (felt, fabric, wool) have been donated by members, and we have opted to provide this information to you in a website rather than printing (you’re all so good at using QR codes now!)

Feedback

We value your feedback on this event.