Little Yarns is an app that allows children and families to engage with indigenous language. The app draws upon data from the State Library of Queensland, - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages word lists.

Little Yarns is an app that allows children and families to engage with indigenous language. The app draws upon data from the State Library of Queensland, - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages word lists.

Application to teach under fives indigenous language through interactive games. Using data sets for body parts from SLQ - the first game to launch this project is ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’. Suitable for all Australian’s the app will increase knowledge and awareness of indigenous language to the next generation through under five developmental integration at which children are most receptive to developing multilingual skills. While children may appear to lag behind monolingual peers at age 3, studies have found they catch up by age 5. Introducing this cognitive development early on for the next generation will also have a flow on effect in ‘normalising’ indigenous language use within mainstream Australia, particularly in areas in which families have been forced to give up their language and culture, through repressive government policies such as the stolen generation. The app also allows for expansion of languages and regions through user input. In this way, our clans can come together to share and celebrate their linguistic diversity, encouraging offscreen conversations and data collection to improve language learning.

Little Yarns provides children and families the opportunity to engage with our indigenous languages, building awareness and celebrating the cosmopolitan diversity of our society. Little Yarns allows kids from different backgrounds to learn language together, creating a culture of acceptance whilst assisting cognitive development in our little ones. Many studies have shown the benefits of developing bilingual and multilingual skills, particularly in childhood. The app allows parents to learn with their little ones, proving it’s never too late to start as from little yarns big yarns grow!

The app allows users to choose a language to explore either directly from a map or by scrolling through the list of languages underneath.

From here kids can explore the language list with language names accompanied by English Text, audio and Visuals

Additionally, users can add their own language data to the app, allowing others to learn more about their language and culture.

The app draws upon data from the State Library of Queensland, - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages word lists.

Little Yarns point of difference from other language apps is the customisation of user data input, allowing indigenous language to be collated in community. Once entered, the community has a ready to use education resource. This grassroots approach will ensure that from little yarns big yarns grow!

SLQ body parts: https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/slq-aboriginal-languages-word-lists/resource/5c0d6488-63f0-48db-afc4-610773e1ea82?inner_span=True https://www.ourfuture.qld.gov.au/a-great-start.aspx https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/ https://discover.data.vic.gov.au/dataset/victorian-government-aborginal-affairs-report-2014-15-data-tables

http://www.archivessearch.qld.gov.au/Image/DigitalImageDetails.aspx?ImageId=225

• Drawings for app
• Coding
• Video presentation - Mim