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Outback House: Christmas

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People sit around table by candlelight, raise glasses to toast
Outback House: Christmas

SUBJECTS:  History

YEARS:  5–6


Join the Allcorn family and their workers as they celebrate Christmas together, sharing a meal and hand-made gifts.

Imagine leaving your home to travel back to a time over 150 years ago, to live and work on an outback farm. Sixteen Australians take part in a reality TV show about life on Oxley Downs, a sheep station built to look and work like a real station of the 1860s.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Do you celebrate Christmas at your home? If so, how? How do you think Christmas traditions have changed over time? What would it have been like to celebrate Christmas in Australia in the 1860s?
  2. 2.What time of day is the Christmas feast? What does the cook do to the plum pudding? What other foods do you see? What gifts are given on Christmas day? What Christmas decorations can you see? Listen carefully as squatter Allcorn speaks to the camera. What do you think is going to happen the next day?
  3. 3.How did the Allcorns' Christmas gifts differ from those given today? What do you think about this? Early settlers from Europe were used to celebrating Christmas in winter. Find out about Christmas traditions in Britain and Europe. How do these traditions influence Christmas in Australia today? How will life be different for the Allcorns when they leave Oxley Downs?
  4. 4.Plan an Australian Christmas celebration for the 1860s. Think about food, decorations, gifts and entertainment. Present your Australian Christmas as a photo diary or digital story. Imagine you are an early settler from England celebrating Christmas in Australia for the first time. How do you feel? Write or record a letter to your family in England about the experience.



Production Date: 2005


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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