Waltzing Matilda Magic Hands

Hello! Come on, everybody, take a seat.

Woo!

BOTH: Hello!

-BOTH:

-Hello!

Wiggle your fingers and cross your feet.

Are you ready?

One, two, three, watch me.

Four, five, six, I've got some tricks.

Seven, eight, nine, it's almost time.

10!

ALL: Magic Hands!

# Just look at my magic

# My magic hands

# Make your fingers super-duper. #

Magic Hands!

-Hello.

-Hello.

-My name is D-O-N-N-A - Donna.

And my name is A-S-H-L-E-Y - Ashley.

Look at what my hands can do.

Oh! I didn't expect that.

It's a kangaroo. Look at it bouncing off into the distance.

Kangaroos live in Australia.

I know a poem about Australia.

It was written by a man called Banjo Paterson

and it's called Waltzing Matilda.

That's all lovely dancing but, in Australia,

waltzing doesn't just mean dancing -

it also means walking in the countryside.

And Matilda isn't just a girl's name -

it's also the word for a sack.

So what's this poem about?

It's about a sheep and something that happens to it.

Ooh.

-Let's find out what happens.

-I wonder what that could be.

Are you ready?

OH! there once was a swagman camped in the Billabong...

..under the shade of a coolabah tree.

And he sang as he looked at his old billy boiling...

"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Down came a jumbuck to drink at the water-hole...

Up jumped the swagman and jumped him in glee.

And he sang as he put him away in his tucker-bag,

"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!"

Down came the Squatter a-riding his thorough-bred.

Down came policemen - one, two, and three.

"Whose is the jumbuck you've got in the tucker-bag?

"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."

But the swagman, he up and he jumped in the water-hole...

drowning himself by the coolabah tree.

And his ghost may be heard as it sings in the billabong,

"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?

"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, my darling?

"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Waltzing Matilda and leading a water bag.

"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Maybe the swagman is still waltzing round Australia today.

I know another poem about another Australian animal called a platypus.

A platypus has a tail like a beaver...

..a furry body...

..webbed feet...

..and a beak like a duck.

This poem was again written by Banjo Paterson...

..and it's called Old Man Platypus.

Are you ready?

Far from the trouble and toil of town...

where the reed beds sweep and shiver...

Look at a fragment of velvet brown...

Old Man Platypus drifting down...

Drifting along the river.

And he plays and dives in the river bends...

..in a style that is most elusive.

With few relations and fewer friends,

for Old Man Platypus descends

from a family most exclusive.

He shares his burrow beneath the bank

with his wife and his son and daughter.

At the roots of the reeds and the grasses rank.

And the bubbles show where our hero sank...

..to its entrance under water.

Safe in their burrow below the falls...

..they live in a world of wonder...

Where no-one visits and no one calls...

..they sleep like little brown billiard balls...

..with their beaks tucked neatly under.

And he talks in a deep unfriendly growl...

..as he goes on his journey lonely.

For he's no relation to fish nor fowl...

..nor to bird nor beast, nor to horned owl.

In fact, he's the one and only!

We've learnt a lot about Australia today.

We've learnt about kangaroos and platypuses.

Why don't you think about other countries

that have unusual and unique animals?

Can you name any?

BOTH: Bye-bye.

ALL: Magic Hands!

# Just look at my magic

# My magic hands

# Make your fingers super-duper. #

Magic Hands!