Art Forms Literacy

Whether you're looking to bring a story to life or find fresh ways to engage reluctant readers and writers, these resources are a great place to start. No specialist arts background needed — just a willingness to try something a little different.

The literacy-focused courses and activities on ARTS:LIVE use the arts as a doorway into reading, writing, speaking and listening. You'll find activities that use drama to explore characters in a class novel, visual art to respond to picture books, music to inspire creative writing, and storytelling through dance and movement.

For children, this kind of learning builds confidence with language in ways that feel natural and enjoyable. It encourages them to find their own voice, experiment with ideas, and communicate with greater fluency and imagination — whether through words, images, or performance.

We've previewed all the courses and activities on ARTS:LIVE so you can take a look at what's on offer. Get exploring today and register for free to unlock the creative possibilities waiting in every story!

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26 X Activity Sheets

Primary Music Starter Pack

Collection:

Brave The Elements
Years 1-6
This is a grab bag of simple musical activities that can be used across the primary years. Each activity includes extension ideas to help progress students. The activities can be taught individually or in any combination and are suitable for generalist teachers with limited musical experience or specialist teachers looking for new ideas.

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9 x 45 minute lessons

Too Many Cheeky Dogs

Collection:

Story Corner
Years 1-6
Take your students through a journey of discovering the world behind the wonderful Australian childrens’ book “Too Many Cheeky Dogs”. Using process drama, step inside the very pages of the book and explore the colourful characters, animals and landscapes of the Australian outback.

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5 x 45 minute lessons

Designosaurs

Collection:

Puppet Party
Years 3-8, Secondary
Designosaurs is an inquiry based research course that invites students to choose a threatened species to research, construct and bring to life in an interactive puppet performance expo. Through the course students learn about puppet construction and puppeteering from members of the eye-popping visual theatre company - Erth.

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7 x 30 minute lessons

The Tree and the Key

Collection:

Songs for Learning
0-5 Year Olds, Years 1-2
The Tree and the Key is an enchanting course that immerses young children in learning through the arts. In this course, children are presented with a Magical Story Map, several colourful animated music videos and a series of playful creative learning activities that support children to develop their imaginary thinking skills.

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5 x 30 minute lessons

The Shoe and the Clue

Collection:

Songs for Learning
0-5 Year Olds, Year 1
Get ready for an immersive learning journey that introduces dramatic play, movement and dance for young children! You'll be presented with a series of animated song videos that feature Australian animals, a zoo, nonsense words and a funny creature called a Thingamedoo.

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3 x Activity Guides

Cheeky Dogs for Early Years

Collection:

Bring Poetry Alive
0-5 Year Olds, Year 1
The course presents ideas for making early literacy experiences exciting and impactful by integrating the arts. This resource includes an animated version of the award winning Too Many Cheeky Dogs story.

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6 x Games and Activity Guides

Musical Games for Early Years

Collection:

Songs for Learning
3-5 Year Olds, Years 1-2
This resource includes six musical games that get young children improvising, playing instruments, responding to music and composing in small or large groups.

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2 x 45 minute lessons

Flexing with Girl Zone

Collection:

Sound Bites
Years 3-10, Secondary
Represent! Teenagers from the up and coming Hip Hop band Girl Zone share how they get inspired, get writing and get out there as performers. This resource outlines a number of word, rhythm and drama games that will develop team work, improvisation and literacy skills.

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14 x Songs and Activity Guides

Transition Songs for F-2

Collection:

Songs for Learning
Years 1-2
This resource presents a series of fourteen short useful songs that can be integrated regularly to create a calm, unified and orderly early learning centre.

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15 x Songs and Activity Guides

Transition Songs for Early Years

Collection:

Songs for Learning
0-5 Year Olds
This resource presents a series of fifteen short useful songs that can be integrated regularly to create a calm, unified and orderly early learning centre.

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3 x Activity Guides

Cheeky Animals for Early Years

Collection:

Bring Poetry Alive
0-5 Year Olds, Year 1
The resource presents ideas for making early literacy experiences exciting and impactful by integrating the arts. There is an animated version of the award-winning Go Home, Cheeky Animals story included in the resource.

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10 x 45 minutes

Harmonic Shift: Songs of Resilience

Collection:

Songs for Learning
Years 1-8, Secondary
Build a more respectful and resilient classroom using wellbeing themed songs and animations created by musician Sheldon King and newly arrived English Language students. This course presents a step by step approach to get students singing, learning about song structure, and writing their own original songs.

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