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Gano, G and Krull, S 2020, Natural Sensory Learning, online article, Community Playthings, viewed 10 March 2023 <https://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/natural-sensory-learning>

Niland, A (2009) The Power of Musical Play: The Value of Play-Based, Child-Centred Curriculum in Early Childhood Music Education, MENC: The National Association for Musical Education, viewed
8/3/23 <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1177/1048371309335625>

SportAus (2019), Musical Statues in: Playing for Life: Movement Exploration, viewed 8/3/23 https://www.sportaus.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/703964/Musical-statues.pdf

Ungunmerr-Baumann, MR 2002, Dadirri: Inner deep listening and quiet Still Awareness, Emmaus Productions, viewed 10 March 2023, <http://www.dadirri.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Dadirri-Inner-Deep-Listening-M-R-Ungunmerr-Bauman-Refl1.pdf.>

Wallin, M (2019) Let’s Play Outside: The Importance of Pretend Play in Natural Settings, Community Playthings, viewed 8/3/23 <The Importance of Pretend Play in Natural Settings (communityplaythings.com)>

White, R and Stoecklin, V (2011), Children’s Outdoor Play & Learning Environments: Returning to Nature, White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group, viewed 8/3/23 <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Randy-White-2/publication/267374472_Children%27s_Outdoor_Play_Learning_Environments_Returning_to_Nature/links/545141ec0cf2bf864cba8f55/Childrens-Outdoor-Play-Learning-Environments-Returning-to-Nature.pdf>

Wooten, V 2013, Music as a Language, online video, YouTube, viewed 11 March 2023,<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zvjW9arAZ0>.

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Through a number of kinesthetic experiences within the unit, I have been able to grasp a deeper understanding of the autonomous nature of children’s learning, and how they naturally embed temporal arts into their play through provocation and natural world exploration. I was greatly inspired by Wooten’s (2013) conveyance of the similar nature of learning music as to learning a language; it offered me an opportunity to understand the interwoven nature of non-verbal communication skills and linguistic development, consolidating my understanding that children create music to exercise their freedom and curiosities.

What I felt was most valuable from a teaching perspective is learning to develop a sense of presence and being ‘in the moment’ with the children through investigating Ungunmerr’s (2002) articulation of the fundamental values of patience, stillness and listening Aboriginal culture. Rather than focusing on the outcome of play or preparing for transitions, I have realised how important it is to become involved in the drama and movement on place with the children to create authentic relationships and inspire children to actively participate. I now know that by engaging the children to respond to the outdoor environment surrounding them (eg. What they can smell, taste, touch, see), the children are given the opportunity to engage with all 8 sensory outlets and develop neurological pathways that enrich their brain development (Gano and Krull 2020), and I see the value in embedding this as a natural element of the curriculum.

Being able to use the parellaxis game to step into the perspective of my young self allowed me to connect with place through drama by reconsidering the elaborate games we played, the way they grew in large physical environments, and the rich conversations that were established as a result of the game/s. Transitioning into the shoes of a child helped me to align my understandings of how to authentically embed drama in place, and how the natural resources around can enhance the depth of the play experiences and incite imaginative and reflexive thinking opportunities.

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What went as expected?
Children loved listening out for all the different sounds, particularly as the service is in a traffic-heavy location. Their movements were elaborate, using the whole yard, and children already participating enjoyed sharing the rules with their peers as they joined in.

What did not go as expected?
Introducing the rules initially – took a bit of time for the children to get a hang of the game, so instructions need to be broken down if I play this again. Younger children required more guidance to participate, and some sounds occurring simultaneously!

What might you do different next time?
Buddy up younger children with more confident peers, allow children to come up with the rules to encourage greater sense of citizenship in choosing what to do and how to pose.

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My assessment 2 game incorporated the noise aspect of the location and had implications for aural engagement, considering that helicopters above caused the game to reset. Similarly, the sounds in this game have a direct cause within this experience, initiating challenges in proprioceptive intake as they try to maneuver themselves to reflect the pose based on the specific sound. Vestibular sensory engagement is considered a factor as children apply balance skills to respond rapidly to the siren/noise stimulation (SportAus 2019).

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Play experience 3: exploring senses in nature (sound and movement)

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Play experience 3: exploring senses in nature (sound and movement)

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This is a game that incorporates aural engagement into musical statues. The children will walk around and make use of the space – navigating their own movements with autonomy – until sounds in the environment occur and they respond to them. The rules mean there will be explicit movements to make based on the sounds they hear, e.g. children will freeze to pose like a bird when they hear a bird call, freezing like a caught criminal if they hear sirens, duck and freeze if they hear a helicopter or plane, encouraging children to respond appropriately and swiftly in order to keep their balance and stay still. The last child standing wins.

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What went as expected?
Very large level of interest across all 4 rooms! Older children felt confident to explore the environment collaboratively, and work through problem solving to locate items based on the layout of the outdoor environment, recognising where some items are commonly found. Younger children enjoyed the novelty of the picture-based list and checking it off boxes as they went

What did not go as expected?
Difficultly negotiating roles, particularly the younger children, who all wanted to use the clipboards at the same time. Educator intervention required to scaffold learning and help them to share turns leading the group for each new item being sourced.

What might you do different next time?
Offer children baskets to collect their resources in and offer other resources such as telescopes to extend thinking, enrich conversation and support extending on roles and responsibilities within the play.

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This experience is designed to accommodate the large outdoor space and utilise it as the 3rd teacher in play, which is aimed as offering children liberation in their movements and autonomy in navigating their play, reflecting my AT2 task that offered large open space to manipulate at their discretion. Offering discovery-based play in open, natural environments encourages ‘rich and complex’ (White and Stoecklin 2011, p.7) play experiences that foster children’s relationships with insects, the climate and habitats. Using natural objects within the hunt is to improve children’s reflexive thinking and consider what each piece of ‘evidence’ could be used for. This reflects Wallin’s (2019) understanding that children’s pretend play is heightened in natural environments, offering richer language in conversation and greater participation in large group play opportunities, as well as development of negotiation and collaboration skills.

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Play experience 2: Police on an 'evidence'/scavenger hunt (movement)

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Play experience 2: Police on an 'evidence'/scavenger hunt (movement)

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Detectives on a nature scavenger hunt. The ‘Police’ (child or educator) will spread their evidence around the yard (eg. Pinecones, pile of sticks, rock tower) and the detectives are to work collaboratively to navigate the yard and locate the evidence, checking off their visual (picture-based) list as they discover the items.

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What went as expected?
Children loved the resources! It really enhanced the responses by offering ways to evoke emotional expression and deeply consider their response to the music. This experience ended up leading to large group investigative play in the outdoor environment, with children requesting their own music to respond to.

What did not go as expected?
The amount of interest.. meaning there were not enough resources at times for all the children. Some younger children that participated were a little unsure of the expectation and looked to educators or peers for prompting to understand what to do.

What might you do different next time?
Discuss what children know about spies, how they demonstrate and perceive the art of being sneaky and read book/s of a similar context to preface the experience, and give every child an opportunity to inspire and extend on their understanding. Add extra open-ended resources that could extend play eg. Scarves, coats, hats

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Taking the thematic concept from AT2, the goal of this experience was to extend on the ‘spies’ concept and explore how children can interpret that nature of a spy’s job, and observing how these ideas can be conveyed from a physical and emotional expression perspective. This experience encourages children to experiment with abstract thinking skills, considering their current understanding and using resources to enhance and expand on their thinking to convey ideas and thoughts. Using music as an element of the aesthetic for the experiences encourages musicality in young children by offering them opportunities to explore moving to the tempo and chord changes throughout the instrumental, interpreting the music and evoking emotion as they respond to the music and convey meaning through movements (Niland 2009).

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Play experience 1: Interpretation of music - Sly Spies sneaking around suspiciously (sound) 

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Play experience 1: Interpretation of music - Sly Spies sneaking around suspiciously (sound) 

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Interpretive movement and drama play as the children respond to a piece of music (Pink Panther theme song) acting out their understandings of spies and secret agents. With age-appropriate resources provided – magnifying glasses, cloaks and hats – the children are encouraged to provide their understandings of being sneaky and how this can be conveyed in a dramatic manner, and consider their movements based on the song’s movement, tempo and crescendos.

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PP 3: sensory engagement through exploring outdoor environment

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PP 2: auditory instruction games/music eg. Dancing Face by Justine Clarke

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Play Provocation (PP) 1: familiar fairytale puppet show

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Reflection 8: connecting with place with all temporal art languages 

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Reflection 8: connecting with place with all temporal art languages 

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I think sometimes I have been frustrated as an educator with the overstimulation of noise in the room, without considering whether that noise has a purpose or reason within the play. Children are naturally going to create sound effects and noises that conceptually align with their ideas, and this is an element of play that is often underrated and educator-directed; looking at the bigger picture will offer a more holistic understanding of the child’s play. Incorporating non-verbal communications as a mean-making element of play-based learning invites opportunities for imaginative thinking and creative conceptualisation, and it is important to embed media styles that reflect this idea to provide extensions of thinking; eg. Miming, body percussion, silent games of copy me

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Reflection 7: connecting with place through drama 

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Reflection 7: connecting with place through drama 

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I have recognised that fostering children’s imaginative thinking is imperative in order to facilitate their self-regulation and positive sense of self. I think it is important to understand how the natural environment influences children’s imagination, understanding that limiting access to natural loose resources limits extensions of children’s thinking, consequentially stifling their creative thinking skills. As a result, I have realised that providing age-appropriate resources that offer autonomy in choice and open-ended, reflexive thinking will encourage larger group play opportunities that broadens in open outdoor play spaces.

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Reflection 6: connecting with place through movement 

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Reflection 6: connecting with place through movement 

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Walking on country helped me to recognise the imperative nature of embedding all sensory outlets to ensure holistic sensory engagement that considers the variety of manners in which children learn, all in independent ways with different approaches to learning. I have recognised how important is to embed dance-play as an innate part of the program, because it allows the children to immerse themselves in the present moment and use their autonomy and liberation to express themselves in a way that facilitates their needs. I’ve also recognised the imperative relationship that the outdoor environment brings to children’s natural learning and understanding of their world, consolidating their understanding that their world is 3D and their senses enhance this.

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Before this session I knew there were different senses, but was unaware of how it extends to 8 individual systems for development. I think becoming more alert to how these systems intertwine, and how the outdoor environment can enhance their engagement, has allowed me to consider providing multi-functional experiences that offer opportunities to inquire with multiple senses at once – e.g. planting and cooking from a vegetable garden, obstacle courses, inquiry into life cycles

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Reflection 4: connecting with place through music

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Reflection 4: connecting with place through music

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Before this session, I always connected to music in a more literal sense and didn’t really consider the mean-making that stems from children creating sound through everyday items – enhanced by my auditory sensitivity even as a child. Looking into the parallaxis concept and considering placing yourself into the perspective of the child really helped me to reconsider the neurological development that is stimulated through children’s music making, whether that be by trial and error or innate experimentation. Going forward, I look forward to celebrating reflexive thinking in children’s learning when they create rhythmic sound in the environment and using scaffolding to extend their ideas.

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I can’t say I knew much about drama of place before I commenced this session. Now I understand  and drama of place respects the idea of connection the aesthetic/physical environment in order to invite and evoke opportunities for mean-making within the environment, encouraging deeper emotional connection to place by engaging with all 8 senses in different contexts. Reflecting on connections place using dramatic arts, I recognise that it is often the non-verbal language that drives the meaning-making and storytelling, and going forward I will look to offer greater emotional expression when both storytelling and reading stories in the classroom – using more intonation, body language and expression in speech.

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Reflection 2: temporal art and contemporary Aboriginality 

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Reflection 2: temporal art and contemporary Aboriginality 

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I knew emotion was conveyed through expression, but had not considered it as deeply before the session. I now understand is that body language, intonation and emotional expression are intertwined between the choreographic side of the movement and appropriate resources to convey the message at a greater proportion, eg. lighting, shadows. Reflecting on my capacity to hear vs listen, I feel that I now understand the importance of remaining conscious/present, and the role modelling intuitive listening in allowing the children to become more conscious of their environment and surroundings. It has helped me to critically reflect on my teaching practices – e.g. do I need music on in the background of the room? This critical thinking has helped me to recognise that in the context of Aboriginal perspectives, I lack authenticity in embedding Aboriginal perspectives, and could use some PD to consolidate this.

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Considering the content explored tonight, I can now recognise how inference and communication can be implied through several non-verbal means. I now see how sounds inherent in nature can create a sense of awareness in oneself and presence in helping one to live ‘in the moment’, considering the importance of the emotional connection that occurs when deep listening is engaged. My new understandings will allow me to appreciate the importance of reflecting on the natural sound of life surrounding me and provide me an opportunity to encourage my children to remain present, encouraging them to utilise their aural senses to develop curiosity and incite discussions about what we can hear and what we think it might be.