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"For young children, illustrated books open the door to understanding story" - Emma Middleton

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"For young children, illustrated books open the door to understanding story" - Emma Middleton

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Picture books and visual imagery hold immense importance in early childhood education. Illustrations can convey complex messages and ideas to children in a way that words alone may not always be able to. Through visual imagery, illustrations provide hints and cues that help children understand deeper meanings and concepts in a narrative (Middleton, 2018). This could mean that even when the message may be challenging, illustrations offer a visual language that supports children's comprehension and interpretation of the story.

By incorporating visual elements, picture books enhance children's overall understanding and engagement with the story, allowing them to explore and uncover hidden layers of meaning beyond the written words (Middleton, 2018).

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Materials and music offer a great way for children to communicate their cultural identities because it can be a complex and multifaceted concept to grasp. I think the expressive, creative, and fun nature of arts and music has the power to serve as a bridge between cultures, allowing children to share and honour their diverse backgrounds and what makes them unique.

Moreover, incorporating materials in the room that authentically represent different cultures helps create an inclusive environment that values each child's cultural identity (Phillips, 2014). By using culturally diverse books, toys, clothing, art, and music, educators can expose children to different cultural practices, beliefs, and traditions (Phillips, 2014). It provides opportunities for children to explore and engage with different perspectives of life.

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Sharing cultural background through home language songs 

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Sharing cultural background through home language songs 

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Nina Bobok - Indonesian Lullaby

Lullaby meaning in English:
Go to sleep, Nina,
Oh, go to sleep Nina.
If you don't go to sleep
The mosquito will bite.

This is a lullaby that I remember my mom singing to me all the time when I was a child. I love that it has humour and it always made me fall asleep, I also remember being a little scared of the mosquitos.

A great way for children to share a little more about their cultural backgrounds and to learn about others could be to sing songs in their home language. Through this, children would be exposed to the idea that everyone has a different background or first language and we must value and appreciate this uniqueness.

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Another great arts activity to honour and appreciate children's cultural identities through materials could be to have each of them draw themselves on a piece of a puzzle and display them all together to showcase the diversity of the group. This can also promote the idea of how everyone is unique but we all fit together and are all the same as human beings.

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From the moment of our birth, we engage in communication, and striving to become great communicators means more than just learning how to speak and listen well. It means recognising that self-expression can also manifest itself in a hundred different languages, including the ways we have touched on, through painting, paper play, natural materials, music, storytelling, and so much more (Edwards et al., 2011).

One of the VEYLDF outcomes is that "children are effective communicators" (Department of Education & Training, 2016). The development of children's communication skills is closely tied to their wellbeing, identity, sense of agency, and ability to form friendships, as it enables them to express their emotions and thoughts effectively and be understood (Department of Education & Training, 2016).

We as educators need to foster learning environments that provide plenty of opportunities for children to communicate these thoughts, emotions, and cultural identities in as many ways as we can. I believe it is so important to allow children the freedom to get creative, explore, experiment, and make mistakes without intervening or setting up structured outcomes.

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Mojo Orange Texture Background Motivation Inspiration Quote Instagram Post

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Throughout this unit, I have been able to strengthen and broaden my understanding of communication in the context of children, and the different ways this can manifest itself in the languages of arts, music, and movement. One concept that really resonated with me was the idea of communicating and thinking with materials. I really liked the way Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind, and Kocher (2016) explain that we should first shift our perspective from one that emphasises simply what to do with materials, but how to think with them instead.

A core principle of Reggio Emilia pedagogy is the belief that materials possess expressive qualities and can convey meaning similar to verbal language (Gandini et al., 2015). Whether it be paint, clay, paper, dirt, or everyday objects, all of these materials invite us in and allow children to express more about them than we may think.

In this visual journal, I take a deeper dive into the different ways materials allow us to communicate, this will include my personal experiences, things that stuck with me during classes, and some implications on early childhood education environments.

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Paper is another great material that is super versatile and accessible to everyone. Through my own experimentation, I found that paper invites you to mess around with it. I usually encounter paper that is clean, flat, wrinkle-free, and almost perfect looking. It invites me to scribble on it, to scrunch, to rip, or to fold it, almost on impulse. I created the paper sculpture pictured above by ripping the paper apart into strips, scrunching them up, and then balancing pieces on top of each together.

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Connecting to Place: Indigenous Place-Thought Walk

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Connecting to Place: Indigenous Place-Thought Walk

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During this past week, I took a stroll around Albert Park lake, ensuring that I took a few moments to explore my surroundings and truly be present in the moment. Although I have walked through the park countless times before, it has never occurred to me to really think about the stories embedded within the land itself. I was inspired by one of the class readings by Watts (2013) which takes on an Indigenous perspective, discussing how agency flows through both human and non-human realms. It's as if the land possesses a living essence, carrying its own memories that span centuries beyond the present moment.

First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land I walked. I extend my utmost respect to their Elders, both past and present. I also took the time to appreciate the land, the patterns on the tree barks, the sounds of birds, and the sun shining. I believe encouraging this appreciation of place from an Indigenous perspective and making sure children spend lots of time being present in the outdoors is crucial. The natural world we walk through every day influences and shapes society much more than we may think (Watts, 2013).

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During class, we were tasked with curating an exhibition space of material objects that tell stories. I think this collection says a lot about me because it's what I carry around with me every day.

I love to read and the book in my exhibition is a romance fiction one that I have started recently and so far am really enjoying. I also have my essentials: wallet, keys, myki card, AirPods. You can tell from this that I commute on public transport most of the time, and that music and reading are some of my favourite hobbies.

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This week we were tasked with utilising a material of choice to produce a piece of creative work. I was super excited to get started with paint as I haven't been able to paint anything in a really long time. The biggest takeaways from this activity for me were the focus on process instead of goal, and the experimentation taking place during this process.

Reflecting back, I believe that by painting a piece of work without a goal or image in mind, I was able to express the ideas I had in mind in the moment and go with my instincts. I can see how this could be beneficial for children to participate in, painting a picture doesn't have to be perfect and structured. Getting messy, mixing colours, trying different methods, even if it fails, all led to my painting ending up even better than I thought.

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As an early childhood educator, I think that incorporating a diverse range of high-quality picture books is essential for supporting holistic development and fostering a love of reading in young learners.

Picture books can also serve as a window to different cultures, promoting inclusivity and cultural awareness (Mendoza & Reese, 2001). Hence, it is super important to consider the range of books provided in the learning environment and ensure that diversity is represented so children have many opportunities to learn about different cultures and to see their own culture being represented.

As I walked past the children's book section, this book 'Welcome to Country' by Aunty Joy Murphy, illustrated by Lisa Kennedy stood out to me and caught my attention because of the beautiful indigenous illustrations. The earthy colours made me feel calm, and as shown below, the illustrations within the book had deep and meaningful imagery of Aboriginal families, natural landscapes, and animals. I think this book really does an amazing job of introducing children to the meanings behind the customs and symbols of Indigenous Australia.

To understand a little more about the significance of the book, Whelan (2016) explains how boundaries between Aboriginal Communities are determined by natural elements such as specific mountains. Traditionally, in order to cross these boundaries, permission from neighboring communities was required. This permission was granted through a ceremonial practice now known as 'Welcome to Country'. Each community has its unique way of welcoming visitors to their land.

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I think this kind of activity is great to extend to an ECE context, the understanding that material objects can say a lot more than their literal meanings is really important. Personal objects are often an extension of us, our personalities, and our interests. They also are symbols of meaning, stories, and can hold deep sentimental value in our lives.

We can impart this understanding by encouraging children to bring into class an object that tells a story, it could be their favourite teddy bear, a christmas present, anything that holds some sort of meaning. Then each child can share with the group their stories.

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Paint is a super fun and versatile material for children to play and experiment with. It's inviting, colourful, messy, squishy, and can be used in so many ways. It allows for creativity to spark in children and gives them the freedom to paint whatever their heart desires. Just like how I used my painting to express my thoughts at the time, children can use paint as a means to express themselves (e.g. interests, likes/dislikes, feelings) or communicate their thoughts or ideas visually (Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind, & Kocher, 2016). Not only this but the messy, hands-on nature of painting also offers children a great way to engage with their senses, allowing them to discover textures and movements, thus establishing a solid groundwork for future artistic exploration (Pelo, 2016).

It lets educators get creative on what kinds of activities to plan. You change the type of paint you work with (watercolour, acrylic, oil), the tool you use (paintbrush, hands, fingers, sponges), and even the surface (canvas, paper, eggs, ceramics, skin, rocks, and the list goes on and on...). These kinds of activities offer a great way for children to have fun as a group whilst still learning from their play, developing sensory and communication skills.

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Invite children to look through the picture book with and without your presence. See what meanings they derive from the illustrations. How it makes them feel? What does it make them think about?

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Children to consider: What does the paint look and feel like? what can you do to the paint? what does it make you think about? 

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Children to consider: What does the paint look and feel like? what can you do to the paint? what does it make you think about? 

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Using their hands as paintbrushes, the children can get messy, have fun, and really interact with the sensory aspects of the paint, the texture and feel on their skin.

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Example of creating art with leaves (Grono, 2022)

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I think that a great way to extend this concept within an ECE context is by ensuring sure children spend lots of time outdoors and interacting with natural materials.

Going on nature walks and interacting with the materials they encounter, touching the soil, collecting leaves, and exploring the bushland. Art can be created from something as simple as a few leaves, and as pictured above, a great activity could be encouraging children to collect a few things from their nature walk and to get creative with what they can make.

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Get children to interact with the material - what does it feel like? in what ways can you change its shape/form? 

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Get children to interact with the material - what does it feel like? in what ways can you change its shape/form? 

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For example, the bracelet above seems like just a regular bracelet to everyone else, but to me this bracelet was given to me by my dad during a boat trip we had in Flores and holds many memories dear to my heart.

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Paper is all about movement, its inviting lightweight, and versatile nature fosters creativity, imagination, and cognitive development in children (Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kocher, & Kind, 2016). Paper's versatility allows for endless possibilities, enabling children to transform it into various shapes, sizes, and textures. This quality fosters open-ended play, where children can create, design, and build using their imagination. Paper play not helps develops children's sensory skills, but also stimulates cognitive development as folding, cutting, and assembling paper requires problem-solving abilities, encouraging children to think critically and develop strategies (Saracho & Spodek, 2003).

Incorporating paper as a material in early childhood environments offers numerous benefits across multiple developmental domains. Educators and caregivers should recognize the potential of this versatile material and provide children with ample opportunities to explore, create, and learn through paper-based activities. By doing so, they can enrich children's early experiences and support their holistic development.

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Activity Idea - Mothers day flower bouquet using tissue paper

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Activity Idea - Mothers day flower bouquet using tissue paper

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Tissue paper is an accessible and easy material to use, children can feel the lightness of the paper and get creative with transforming it into different shapes like the flowers above.