Children’s Toys in Victorian Indigenous Communities

Children in Victorian Indigenous communities engaged in a wide range of play and games that were deeply connected to learning, survival, and cultural identity. Toys were not separate from education: they helped children develop hunting skills, social awareness, and an understanding of Law/Lore. Made from natural materials, these toys often mimicked the tools and objects used by adults, preparing children for their roles in community life. This article surveys toys known across Victorian Indigenous communities—with a focus on the Wadawurrung—and considers how colonisation affected these traditions.

The Role of Play and Toys in Indigenous Culture

Play was an essential way for children to learn skills, values, and responsibilities. Through games and toys, children developed physical abilities, learned cooperation, and rehearsed adult activities such as hunting, gathering, and caring for family. Toys were usually crafted by family members from locally available materials, linking children’s play to Country. Story and play were often combined—songs, dances, and toys reinforced the same cultural lessons (VAEAI, 2024; Deadly Story, n.d.).

Types of Children’s Toys in Victoria

Miniature Spears and Boomerangs

Children were given small spears and boomerangs to practise throwing. Lighter, safer versions made from sticks, reeds, or carved wood helped them build accuracy and distance—the foundations of hunting.

Toy Coolamons and Carrying Vessels

Girls often played with small coolamons (wooden carrying bowls) made by mothers or grandmothers. They carried water, sand, or small items, imitating women’s work in gathering food and caring for babies.

String Games

Looping plant fibres or animal sinew between the fingers, children created figures representing animals, stars, and landscapes. These games developed dexterity, memory, and storytelling while linking to cosmological knowledge.

Animal Figures

Clay, bark, or stone were shaped into kangaroos, birds, and fish for imaginative play—reinforcing knowledge of animal behaviour and relationships with Country.

Balls and Throwing Games

Balls made from possum skin, tightly bound grass, or animal hair were used for catching and rolling games that built coordination and teamwork. In parts of Victoria, older children and adults played Marngrook, a football-like game later linked to the development of Australian Rules Football (Pascoe, 1995).

Musical Toys

Simple instruments—clapsticks or reed whistles—let children join musical play, dance, and ceremony from an early age.

Toys on Wadawurrung Country

On Wadawurrung Country, toys reflected volcanic plains, coasts, and rivers.

·       Stone and Reed Toys: Small tools from reeds or shaped stone let children mimic fishing and food preparation.

·       Water Play: Bark and reed rafts taught about currents through play on rivers and along the coast.

·       Symbol Drawing Games: Children drew ancestral symbols in sand or dirt, reinforcing storytelling and kinship (GORCC & Wadawurrung, 2020).

·       Early Marngrook Games: With abundant possums, possum-skin balls were used in kicking and throwing games that strengthened agility and social bonds; older children often played alongside adults (Eccles, 2017).

Impact of Colonisation on Toys and Play

Colonisation disrupted traditional childhood experiences. Dispossession removed families from Country, limiting access to natural materials for toy-making. Missions and government policies restricted cultural practices, and European toys replaced traditional forms. Despite this, many Indigenous families kept toy-making alive in private—teaching children to craft small tools, string figures, and possum-skin balls. In recent decades, cultural revival programs have reintroduced these practices in schools and community groups so Indigenous children can reconnect with ancestral ways of learning through play (Clark, 1995; VACL & Creative Victoria, 2014).

Contemporary Revitalisation

·       Cultural Education Programs: Organisations such as Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation and VAEAI include traditional games and toy-making in school visits and cultural tours.

·       Community Sports and Marngrook: Celebrations of Marngrook honour the role of Indigenous children’s games in shaping modern Australian sport.

·       Workshops on String Games and Tools: Revived to connect children with language, story, and fine-motor skills.

Conclusion

Children’s toys in Victorian Indigenous communities were far more than amusements: they were learning tools, cultural expressions, and connections to Country. From miniature spears and coolamons to string games and possum-skin balls, toys prepared children for adult life while embedding values of cooperation and care. Colonisation severely disrupted these traditions, but through cultural revival and community-led education, traditional toys and games continue to be remembered, taught, and celebrated—particularly on Wadawurrung Country.

References

·       Clark, I. D. (1995) Scars in the Landscape: A Register of Massacre Sites in Western Victoria 1803–1859. Aboriginal Studies Press.

·       Deadly Story (n.d.) Stories & Totems. Available at: https://www.deadlystory.com

·       Eccles, C. (2017) ‘Corrina Eccles – a Wadawurrung Traditional Owner’, Otway Life Magazine.

·       GORCC & Wadawurrung (2020) Wadawurrung Way: Symbol Stories (F–3 resource).

·       Pascoe, B. (1995) The Little Red, Yellow, Black Book: An Introduction to Indigenous Australia. AIATSIS.

·       VACL & Creative Victoria (2014) Nyernila: Listen Continuously – Aboriginal Creation Stories of Victoria. Melbourne: VACL.

·       VAEAI (2024) Koorie Education Resources. Available at: https://www.vaeai.org.au

·       Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (2025) About Us. Available at: https://www.wadawurrung.org.au