PROJECT
Noongar Nursery Rhymes
Quairading and Pingelly
Hugh Sando
OVERVIEW
Inviting the next generation of First Nations people to sing in the first language of this boodja, Noongar Nursery Rhymes is a new language and arts program designed specifically for pre-school-aged children and their caregivers.
Noongar Nursery Rhymes has grown out of CAN’s award-winning Noongar Lullabies program. Since 2017, this program has seen First Nations people from across the Noongar nation write and share their own original lullabies in language.
Like Noongar Lullabies, Noongar Nursery Rhymes is led by Noongar artists and focuses on community members creating and sharing original Noongar content, preserving, amplifying and celebrating Noongar language through stories and music.
Guided and mentored by First Nations artists, children and caregivers will learn Noongar vocabulary, which will then be used to create a simple, happy nursery rhyme. This song will be used as the text for a children’s board book, which will be distributed to playgroups across Western Australia.
Following the success of the 2025 pilot program in Kwinana, the next iteration of Noongar Nursery Rhymes will be delivered to families participating in Playgroup WA's Quairading and Pingelly Aboriginal Playgroups.
With Noongar language at its heart, this initiative empowers First Nations families to share and celebrate their language and culture with their children and extended families, fostering cultural pride and strengthening community connections.
