Design a Meaningful Harmony Day Shirt

Creating a Harmony Day Shirt is more than just an art project—it’s an opportunity for students to explore the themes of diversity, inclusion, and belonging in a meaningful way. This resource is designed to guide students through these important concepts, helping them reflect on what Harmony Day represents and how they can express its message through their designs. Teachers can use this activity as a starting point to discuss the significance of cultural diversity, the importance of making everyone feel included, and ways to foster a sense of belonging in their school community. By designing their own shirts, students can create a personal and visual representation of these values, sparking deeper conversations and connections.

Make Your Own T Shirt: Two Versions Available

This resource offers two engaging approaches for students to make your own t shirt, tailored to different age groups.

For students in Years Foundation–2:

This activity is a guided drawing exercise in which students illustrate their understanding of Harmony Day’s themes in 11 different sections of a t-shirt template. Each section focuses on a specific way to celebrate diversity, such as ‘Songs and Stories,’ where they draw people singing, dancing, or sharing stories from different cultures, or ‘A Colourful World,’ where they create a bright, multi-coloured depiction of the world.

Teachers will project the instruction sheet on the board and lead the class step by step, reading out what should be drawn in each section. This scaffolded approach helps young learners connect visually and emotionally with the values of inclusion, belonging and cultural appreciation.

For students in Years 3–6:

The resource for this age group becomes an inquiry-based design project. Instead of following step-by-step instructions, students will independently create a Harmony Day T-shirt that embodies cultural diversity and inclusivity in Australia. They will use symbols, colours and messages to highlight the positive contributions of different cultures while promoting unity and respect.

To support their design process, the resource includes:

• graphic organisers for research and brainstorming
• a front-and-back t-shirt template for their final design
• a peer feedback questionnaire
• a project reflection sheet
• a marking rubric.

This approach allows older students to think critically about Harmony Day’s message, fostering creativity and deeper engagement with multiculturalism in their community.

Download Your Harmony Day T Shirt Resource

Access and download the complete resource to start this engaging activity. Use the drop-down arrow on the Download button to choose between the editable Google Slides or the easy-to-print PDF version. You will also need to choose the appropriate year-level version for your students. Your download will have everything you need to start this Harmony Day T Shirt activity with your students.

Explore More Harmony Day Activities

Discover additional Harmony Day resources to extend learning and celebrate cultural diversity in your classroom.

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Our Belonging Map Classroom Display

Investigate your students’ heritage with this belonging map to display in the classroom.

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Printable Harmony Day Bracelets

Celebrate diversity and inclusion by having your students create their own Harmony Day bracelets with mindful colouring and meaningful words that reflect the spirit of the holiday.

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Harmony Day Assembly PowerPoint

Teach about the significance of Harmony Day with this 10-slide teaching PowerPoint .