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Material requires, some branches and dried leaves, sticks, stone, containers, loose parts

Lesson steps:

1. Gather children outside

2. Invite children first listen carefully to the sounds of the environment

3. Open-ended question, ask them, “What did you hear?”

4. Provide elements such as sticks, leaves, stones, containers and loose parts for children to make sounds

5. Encourage the children to use their parts of body such as clapping their hands, stomping their feet, tapping their fingers, or using their mouths to create different sound.

6. Ask the children create the sound what they heard

7. Encourage children to express their feelings through facial expressions, rhythm, tone, or movement.

My activity connects to elements of EYLF

Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing.

Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners.
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators.

Practice:
Holistic approaches.
Learning through play.
Learning environment.

Reflection:

What went as expected?
Children liked closing their eyes and listening deeply. They enjoyed this practice, and some of them shared what they heard and expressed their feeling. They also loved making sounds with the natural elements, loose parts and different parts of their bodies.

What did not go as expected?
One of the children talked and were not fully focused during the experience. I noticed that one chid did not recognise the difference between natural and non-natural sounds.

What might you do different next time?
Next time, I would like to first show the children a short video about nature and encourage them to listen carefully to the natural sounds.

How might you use this growth in your future practice of early childhood education?
I will integrate listening activities into my practice for nature and non-nature sounds. These activities enhance children's listening skills and help them develop environmental awareness.
This experience can also be connected to resources Dadirri- Inner Deep Listening& Quiet Still Awareness, and Hearing & Deep Listening.

Overall reflection
Before studying this unit, I saw music and sounds as fun activities. But now I understand that they play a crucial role in children’s learning and development.

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Listening to Nature's sounds
A short summary of my sound/music experiences:
During outdoor an activity, I invite the children to deeply listen to natural sounds and identify what they can hear. This activity helps improve their listening skills, focus, and social skills.
During an outdoor activity, I invited the children to deeply listen to nature’s sounds, identify what they could hear, and explore how they could recreate those sounds. This activity helped improve their listening skills, focus, creativity, and social skills.

Rationale / Justification:
This experience encourages children to listen carefully to the sounds around them and express their feelings. It is inspired by my Assignment 2, Whispers of the Landscape, where I listened deeply to natural sounds such as swaying leaves, birdsong, the flowing river, and the crunch of dry leaves. These sounds made me feel calm, creative, and more aware of my surroundings.
Encouraging children to listen carefully supports the development of their concentration, imagination, and environmental awareness. encouraging the children to recreate these sounds also foster their creativity, social and emotional skills and self-expression. Which aligns with Schafer (2009), which highlights the importance of deeply listening to the sounds of nature.

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Walking Through Nature

A short summary of my movement experience in nature:

During an outdoor activity, I encouraged the children to walk around backyard, which looks like a nature, and explore different surfaces. During this experience, I asked the children to move their bodies based on what they saw, like swaying such as the branches and flapping their arms like flying birds.
Rationale / Justification:

In this activity, I encouraged the children to explore the natural environment, walk on uneven surfaces, and move their bodies freely. It was inspired by my Assignment 2, Whispers of the Landscape, where the dance of natural elements made me feel calm and encouraged me to think critically. This experience helps children enhance their gross motor skills, improve creativity, and support their well-being. It also encourages children to respect Indigenous people who have cared for the land and allow us to live and play on it.
The article Creative Dance- Play for Early Childhood (Dance Teaching Ideas, n.d.), highlights how movement and dance help children improve their physical, emotional, and social skills.

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Lesson steps:

1. I created a small group of children for better supervision and took them outside.

2. I encouraged the children to walk around and observe and listen carefully to their surroundings.

3. I asked them to move their bodies like the wind, branches, and birds while walking.

4. I asked open-ended questions, such as "How did you feel?" and "What was your movement like?"

5. We also discussed the elements of nature.
My activity connects to elements of EYLF

Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world.
Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners
Practice:

Holistic Approaches
Learning through play
Learning environment

Reflection

What went as expected?
It seemed the children enjoy this activity and connect with nature through movement and exploration. They also liked moving their bodies like the elements of nature and engaged with the open-ended questions.

What did not go as expected?
Some children did not like walking on uneven surfaces.

What might you do different next time?
In the future, in my practice, I might play nature music to create a more immersive environment.

How might you use this growth in your future practice of early childhood education?
In the future, I would introduce more body movements inspired by nature elements, such as the movements of birds and animals. This experience can also be connected to video Mutton Bird

Overall reflection

Before this unit, I thought movement was just for fun and helped children improve their fine and gross motor skills as well as emotional skills. this experience showed me that movement plays an important role in connecting with nature, enhancing learning, fostering creativity and imagination, and developing respect for nature and indigenous people who care for the land where we live and study and play.

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Let's find ilttle birds
A short summary of my drama experience:
In this dramatic play, I introduce a little bird who is lost in the jungle and loves the sound of rain and wind. I invite the children to help the little bird find its way home by creating the sounds of rain and wind. My role is the conductor, and I encourage the children to become part of the orchestra. I provide simple materials like a watering can, dried leaves, and small sticks to help the children have their own instruments and make rain and wind sounds. I hold two sticks to show that I am the conductor and move my hands to guide the performance.

Rationale/Justification:
In this experience, I encouraged the children to choose their own instruments, engage with sensory materials, and use their imagination to create nature sounds. They took roles as orchestra members to perform a concert of nature sounds to help the little bird to find its way home. This activity was inspired by my Assessment 2 experience, where the natural elements boosted my creativity and imagination, making me feel like I was in an open sky concert. This drama activity helps children engage their senses, boost creativity and imagination, and encourages them to work together.
This connects with Wallin’s (2019) article, Let’s play outside which highlights how nature and pretend play boosts children’s imagination, creativity, social and emotional skills.

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Material require watering can, some branches and dried leaves, sticks

Lesson steps:

1. outdoor space for performance

2. Tell the story of the little bird who is lost in the jungle and loves rain and wind sounds. Use an exciting voice and facial expressions to make it fun.

3. Ask the children to choose their instrument and give them time to explore the instrument, encourage them to also use their mouth and body to create nature sounds.

4. As the conductor, guide the children to work together as orchestra members.

My activity connects to elements of EYLF
Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world.
Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing.
Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners.
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators.

Practice:
Holistic Approaches
Learning through play
Learning environment

Reflection

What went as expected?
This activity went well, as I expected. The child enjoyed making sounds with their own instrument and pretending to help the little bird. He was happy, crative and engaged during the play.

What did not go as expected?
At first, the child did not know how to use the materials to create the sound of rain or wind

What might you do different next time?
In future, I plan to offer a variety of materials to explore different sounds and give the child more time to experiment make sounds.

How might you use this growth in your future practice of early childhood education?
I would like to integrate more pretend outdoor drama activities in my future practice. Outdoor drama activities play an important role in children's learning and development.

This experience can also be connected to the music Wala is Life

Overall reflection
I noticed how nature can support children's learning. In my future practice, I would like to integrate more nature-based activities and combine sound, movement, and drama to create more exciting experiences.

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1. Dance Teaching Ideas. (n.d.). Creative dance-play for early childhood. Retrieved from https://danceteachingideas.com

2.  New, D. (Director). (2009). Listen [Film]. National Film Board of Canada. https://www.nfb.ca/film/listen/

3.  Wallin, M.L. (2019, June). Let's play outside: The importance of pretend play in natural settings. Exchange Press.
Retrieved from https://exchangepress.com/article/lets-play-outside-the-importance-of-pretend-play-in-natural-settings/5024392/?utm_source=chatgpt.com