Little Aussie Bugs

05/09/2026

🌟 Promoting Early Health Literacy: The Power of Dialogic Reading 📚✨
Attention early childhood educators and parents! Our latest article has highlighted an exciting, simple, and effective way to help our little ones build healthy habits for life.

The study evaluated the pilot of the Little Aussie Bugs program, which combines an engaging dialogic book series with a short online professional development course for early childhood educators.

This program was designed to help educators easily weave vital health concepts, like hand hygiene, healthy eating, and dental care, into everyday learning, play, and transition routines.

Here is what the research found and why it is a major win-win for both educators and families:

👩‍🏫 For Our Educators:
Boosted confidence and knowledge: Educators who completed the short, self-paced online course showed statistically significant improvements in their overall health literacy and felt much more confident using interactive, language-rich "dialogic reading" to share health messages.

Easy curriculum alignment: The resources made it simple to meet Australian regulatory guidelines (such as the National Quality Standard, Quality Area 2) and document daily reflections for accreditation purposes without adding extra administrative burden.

Building a professional network: Educators loved using the course's online discussion boards to share tips, turning their professional learning into a collaborative, supportive community.

🏡 For parents and families:
Healthy habits made fun: Instead of dry rules, children connected with the books' friendly characters, visual pictures, and catchy phrases.
Educators noticed children automatically washing their hands, using the book's terminology to remind their friends, and proudly talking about how they do it at home.
Bridging home and care: The program helped centers update policies, send targeted updates to families, and include helpful health resources in orientation packs, ensuring children receive the same positive, consistent messages at home and at childcare.

The takeaway: Healthy habits start early, and when educators and families work together with the right tools, learning about health becomes a natural, joyful, and relational part of a child's day!

The study, "Applying the Ottawa Charter to evaluate health literacy outcomes of the Little Aussie Bugs course for Australian early childhood educators," was published in July 2026.
https://academic.oup.com/heapro/article/41/4/daag087/8725100?login=false

Want to purchase the books? https://nhiri.ecu.edu.au/impact-resources/little-aussie-bugs/

12/05/2026

Look at the range of finger and hand puppets the very talented Samantha Rae has created for the Little Aussie Bugs!

A valuable addition to the Little Aussie Bugs suite of resources

Edith Cowan University (ECU)

https://nhiri.ecu.edu.au/impact-resources/little-aussie-bugs/

08/05/2026

Bridging the gap: ECU students take on childhood tooth decay

As one of the most common chronic conditions in young children, early childhood tooth decay affects nearly half of Australian kids of pre-school age.

03/05/2026

Our fantastic ECU Nutrition Bioscience students Cait and Lou delivered an oral health workshop at ISHAR - the Little Aussie Bugs 'My healthy teeth' book featured, delivering some important messages about diet, oral hygiene and visiting the dentist.


Edith Cowan University (ECU)

13/04/2026

Say hello to our brand‑new Little Aussie Bugs finger puppets!
These colourful characters will be joining us for stories, songs, and playful learning adventures. From cuddly animals to quirky creatures, they’re ready to help bring imagination to life and make every activity a little more magical.

Stay tuned to see which puppet pops up next!

10/04/2026

Autumn is the season of cozy colours and delicious foods!
The Little Aussie Bugs are enjoying:

🍎 Apples
🎃 Pumpkin
🥕 Carrots
🍐 Pears
🥦 Broccoli

Perfect for cooking, tasting, and exploring.
What’s the favourite autumn snack at your centre?
https://nhiri.ecu.edu.au/impact-resources/little-aussie-bugs/

07/04/2026

🍂 We’re halfway through Autumn and you can really feel it now – cooler mornings, cosy jumpers, and lots of little bugs going around! 🤧

As the weather cools down, it’s a great reminder for our little ones (and us!) to take extra care of ourselves. Washing hands, getting plenty of rest, and talking about how our bodies work all help build healthy habits early.

The Little Aussie Bugs books are perfect for this time of year 💛 They help children understand germs, bugs and bodies in a fun, reassuring way – without being scary – and open up great conversations at home and at childcare.

So grab a blanket, cuddle up, and read together while the autumn leaves fall 🍁📚 - learning how to stay healthy can be just as cosy as story time.

03/04/2026

The Little Aussie Bugs would like to wish you a super long weekend!

nhiri.ecu.edu.au/impact-resources/little-aussie-bugs/

02/04/2026

Reintroducing the Little Aussie Bugs characters:
Here is Kolo, the Koala
Kolo loves to have clean teeth and shows children that a trip to the dentist can be fun.
Here is Kolo saying hello to the dentist.
What do you love about Kolo?

nhiri.ecu.edu.au/impact-resources/little-aussie-bugs/

31/03/2026

We'd like to reintroduce you to the Little Aussie Bugs characters:
Here is Tully, everyone's favourite turtle.
Tully loves to try healthy foods.
Here is Tully trying yummy fruits and veg and saying 'I like it'
What do you love about Tully?



https://nhiri.ecu.edu.au/impact-resources/little-aussie-bugs/