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The link of my main artefact: https://youtube.com/shorts/ICnhm1vqGEU

This inspired my game “Luma’s Adventure: Bringing the lonely tree to life”. In the game, children help Luma, the lonely tree, become alive and happy. They can place leaves on the tree, water it carefully without overwatering, add friend trees around it, and even talk to Luma. Through these actions, children engage with problem-solving, imaginative play, and empathy.

The game uses music (wind, water, rustling leaves), movement (placing leaves, moving trees), and drama (talking to Luma and telling the story). It connects my real-life experience with creativity, showing how imagination and care can turn a lonely tree into a happy, lively tree.

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I chose to bring my response to life through sound, movement, and drama. The sounds of wind, water, and leaves created the atmosphere. The movements of placing leaves and planting trees showed change. By giving Luma a voice and story, drama added emotion and made the tree feel real.

When I spent time at St Albans Station, I noticed a lonely, leafless tree. It looked sad, as if waiting for someone to care for it. This inspired me to create a children’s game where players can help bring the tree to life. I brainstormed simple solutions children could do including adding leaves, watering the tree carefully, planting friend trees, and talk to the tree to make it happy.

I tested how the tree could change in the video. First, Luma is shown alone and sad. Instead of children’s hands, I used three colored balls to represent different emotions. Each ball interacts with the tree by placing leaves, watering, or adding friend trees. I tested different angles and timing to make the story clear within one minute, keeping it simple but engaging. In the final scene, the three balls become happy and dance around the tree, celebrating as it comes back to life with new friends. This ending shows how imagination, care, and play can transform sadness into joy.

The link of my game: https://youtu.be/aB9BZj_1fU8

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Luma’s Adventure: Bringing the Lonely Tree to Life shows how children can care for and bring a tree to life through play. I was inspired by a tree without leaves that I saw at St Albans Station. It looked lonely and sad, and this made me think about how children could use imagination to help it. In my video, three colored balls represented different emotions. They place leaves on the tree, water it carefully, and add small friend trees around it. At the end, the balls dance around the tree, showing joy, friendship, and the positive outcome of care and play.

The video uses sound, movement, and drama together to create a rich and engaging story. Sound includes wind, water, and rustling leaves, which help to recreate the atmosphere of the outdoor space and connect viewers to nature. Movement comes from the balls rolling, jumping, and dancing, showing action, care, and emotional interaction with the tree. Drama is expressed through the story of Luma, moving from loneliness to happiness, giving the tree a personality and allowing children to engage emotionally. The combination of these three temporal arts languages encourages children to imagine, problem-solve, and express emotions while playing, showing how play can be both creative and meaningful.

This project connects to ideas from key readings in the unit. Wilson (2018) explains that play in natural environments encourages creativity, empathy, and exploration. My video proves how children can interact with the tree and environment in imaginative ways, supporting emotional and social development. Hamm (2015) suggests that storytelling with place helps children form connections with their environment and consider their role within it. By surrounding the lonely tree with friend trees and showing its revival, my game highlights the importance of relationships, care, and community. Welch (2009) discusses how storytelling involves both the teller and the audience, giving children opportunities to participate in and shape the narrative. Using colored balls as emotional agents allows children to take part in the story through action and play rather than just verbal storytelling.

The project also informs my future practice in early childhood education. It shows that combining sound, movement, and drama provides multiple ways for children to explore ideas, emotions, and problem-solving. Using simple materials and natural elements, like trees and colored balls, encourages creativity and child-led storytelling. Unlike structured lessons that focus on predetermined outcomes, this approach gives children space to experiment, imagine, and collaborate. In my teaching, I aim to support play experiences where children can use their senses, create stories, and connect with nature, objects, and each other.

In conclusion, Luma’s Adventure highlights how imagination, care, and creativity can transform a simple activity into a meaningful learning experience. It brings together personal reflection, academic ideas, and future teaching goals, showing how sound, movement, and drama can help children learn, develop empathy, and connect with their world. By observing, reflecting, and creatively responding to place, children can develop both cognitive and emotional skills while engaging in joyful and imaginative play.

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Wilson, R. A. (2018). Nature and young children: Encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/vu.edu.au?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.taylorfrancis.com%2Fbooks%2Fmono%2F10.4324%2F9781315148533%2Fnature-young-children-ruth-wilson

Welch, W. (2009). Who owns the story? Storytelling, Self, Society, 5(1), 1–22. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/vu.edu.au?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F41943296

Hamm, C. (2015). Walking with place: Storying reconciliation pedagogies in early childhood education. Canadian Children, 40(2), 56–66. https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=26024c46-924d-32e9-a217-a228a5b86642