Bardi Grubs Handcarved & Painted Noongar

Bardi is the Noongar name for Witchetty Grub. Bardi Grubs (Witchety Grubs) are the larva of a moth. They can be found in the root system of  the Witchetty Bush, in the stems of Wilyawa ‘Red-Eyed Wattle‘ and in the trunks of dying Balga ‘Grass Tree’.  Bardi are very high in protein - did you know eating 10 Bardi would be enough protein to feed an adult for a full day! Depending on your taste buds - Bardi can taste a bit like almonds, peanuts or scrambled eggs! When cooked the Bardi skin is sort of like biting into chicken-skin.

Incorporating mereny waabiny kadadjiny ‘food play learning’  resources into your home corner or role play areas create opportunities to embed Aboriginal culture into curriculum. Koolangka love to kaadadtj ‘learn’ while out on a ‘Bardi’ hunt; Visit your favourite bush walk trail or nature playground and hide Bardi at the base of plants, practice and build Noongar Language knowledge and skills with koolangka using the below glossary while you find and collect all the hidden Bardi with coolamon. Count how many Bardi you have practice counting with Noongar Numbers.

Noongar Numbers

1 Keny/Keyen/Nendji 

2 Koodjal

3 Dambart/Mo

4 Koodjal - Koodjal

5 Maar

6 Maar-Keny/Keyen/Nendji

7 Maar-Koodjal

8 Maar-Dambart/Mo

9 Maar-Koodjal-Koodjal

10 Maar-Maar 

A guiding principle of the National Quality Framework (NQF) is that Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures are valued. Incorporating bush tucker into your home corner resources or role play areas create opportunities to embed culture into curriculum.  We love using these hand carved grubs to go on a ‘Bardi’ hunt by hiding them in the base of plants to collect.  Use as a teaching tool extension to butterfly life cycles by exploring the life cycle of a Bardi Grub.

Noongar traditionally an oral language with regional dialects; words and spelling in written form can vary.

These resources have been hand painted by Noongar Artists in Western Australia.

Made from wood.