Birdie's Tree, a series of children's books, puppets and animations which help young children prepare for, and cope with natural disasters as well as other disruptive events like sickness will soon be available in Blue Mountains schools and libraries.
From early June the series of twelve storybooks and puppets will be supplied to Blue Mountains' primary schools, early childhood centres and Blue Mountains libraries courtesy of Blue Mountains City Council. This project was funded by the NSW State Government's Bushfire Community Recovery and Resilience grant.
Blue Mountains Mayor, Cr Mark Greenhill said: "Too often young children are left out of the conversation when individuals and services think about how to best prepare for emergency situations. So resources like Birdie's Tree are a wonderful way to gently and positively let children become familiar with these concepts so they can be reassured that their families, pets and homes will remain safe despite these challenging situations."
The Birdie's Tree resources cover a broad range of topics such as managing floods, storms, cyclones, droughts and bushfires and other significant events like the COVID-19 pandemic.
The stories will be performed during Storytime in Blue Mountains Libraries throughout the July school holidays in conjunction with the 'Pillowcase Project' emergency preparedness workshops, which will be presented to young audiences by Red Cross Emergency Services volunteers.
The Birdie's Tree resources are being launched at two afternoon tea events which primary school and early childhood educators invited to attend to learn more about the storybooks and additional training opportunities that will be available in the coming months.
For further information go to: childrens.health.qld.gov.au/natural-disaster-recovery.
Photo: Mayor, Cr Mark Greenhill, and Senior Psychologist from the Department of Education, Stephen McFadden, at one of the launch events for Birdie's Trees, held at Blue Mountains Community Hub.
