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The walk took place at Flagstaff garden where people of diverse age, occupation and gender spend time enjoying nature. It was raining when I arrived at the park, making it better for me to listen to nature as there were almost no people. Although I could not hear much initially and did not know what to listen to, I was drawn by the sound of faint raindrops pouring onto the ground as well as birds chirping. I knew instantly that this is something children should find out, exploring the sounds of nature. Listening skills are crucial to children as it affects how they reproduce sounds individually such as consonants with words and vowels that are important when producing written or verbal communication (Cardany, 2011). Therefore, allowing children to get used to sounds especially that we experience in nature and on a daily basis would elevate their strength in producing a variety of sounds, enhancing their ability to compose words to form communication.

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Aboriginal colours in art. (n.d.). Aboriginal Colours in Art | Kate Owen Gallery. https://www.kateowengallery.com/page/aboriginal-colours-in-art#:~:text=These%20pioneers%20of%20western%20desert,art%20for%20tho

Australian Government Department of Education [AGDE] (2022). Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (V2.0). Australian Government Department of Education for the Ministerial Council.

Bassett, M. (n.d.) The Classroom as an Ecosystem: Living Materials. Center for Playful Inquiry. Retrieved May 15, 2023, from https://www.centerforplayfulinquiry.com/voices/classroomasecosystem

Cabezas, C., & Rouse, E. (2014). ‘How do early childhood teachers understand and support the needs of young English language learners?’, Asia-Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education, vol. 8, no. 1, (pp. 57–78). Viewed https://www.pecerajournal.com/detail/58978

Cardany, A. B. (2011). Listening walks and singing maps. General Music Today, 24(3), (pp. 34-38).

Crafton, L. K., Silvers, P., & Brennan, M. (2009). Creating a critical multiliteracies curriculum: Repositioning art in the early childhood classroom. Making meaning: Constructing multimodal perspectives of language, literacy, and learning through arts-based early childhood education  (pp. 31-51).

Gallagher, M., Prior, J., Needham, M., & Holmes, R. (2017). Listening differently: A pedagogy for expanded listening. British Educational Research Journal, 43(6), (pp. 1246-1265).

Hannan, S. (2023) Multiliteracies in early childhood education - Reading the Room, from https://vucollaborate.vu.edu.au/content/enforced/1783170-ECE6011-1-2023-H1B3-150044/Week%203/Hannan,%20S%20(2023)%20Multiliteracies%20in%20early%20childhood%20education%20-%20Reading%20the%20Room.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=THWKh5fmLQNJ1HGKcrqnxXijS&ou=1783170

Hill, S., (2007), ‘Multiliteracies: Towards the future’, in L Makin, C Jones Diaz & C McLachlan (eds), Literacies in childhood: Changing views, challenging practice, 2nd edn, Elsevier Australia, Marrickville, NSW (pp. 56–70).

Pacini-Ketchabaw, V., Kind, S., & Kocher, L. L. M. (2016). Encounters with materials in early childhood education. Taylor & Francis Group.

Pelo, A. (2016). The language of art: Inquiry-based studio practices in early childhood settings, Redleaf Press.

Schroeder-Yu, G. (2008). ‘Documentation: Ideas and applications from the Reggio Emilia approach’, Teaching Artist Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia, United States, (pp. 126–134). Viewed https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=ehh&AN=31930964&site=ehost-live&custid=s1145751 usands%20of%20years

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As listening walks can improve with our senses as well as expose us to new, strange experiences which would then allow us to learn from them, this is something that children need to experience to enhance their learning towards nature (Gallagher et al., 2017). To apply this, I would firstly show videos and illustrated pictures on different nature scenarios and ask them what sounds we could hear from those, such as the branches cracking from footsteps, wind whooshing sounds and the birds chirping when a picture of a park is shown. This would enhance their imagination as they would be recalling the moments they have been to a park or seen it in a video and reacting upon their experiences. For a better experience, I would take them to a park as an excursion where they could explore the earth, trees and nature that makes it a park. I would encourage children to ask me all kinds of questions as every new discovery leads to a creation of understanding (Bassett, n.d.). I would also do a play activity with a storyline of being chased by a big bear and that everyone cannot not make a sound and walk quietly along the footpath for a few minutes to escape the bear. This would be done for children to give more attention into the sounds that they are hearing.

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From my memories, the last time I picked up an illustrated book with no more than a few lines of words on a page was when I was in kindergarten. Nevertheless, when I tried picking up 4 books appropriate for children, I was surprised at how I did it back then as it was difficult. I initially picked up a book that includes illustrations but paragraphs of words, just to realise that the audience is not me and just because I can understand, it does not mean that children could easily understand. That was when I realised that if I were to teach children with that book, I would have to do it in a different method that is not just reading out loud. Then I moved onto books that mainly focus on illustrations as colours represent emotions, cultural significance as well as the gestures on it can be easily interpreted from a single look (Hill, 2007). I chose the book “The hospital dog” as it highlights helping others when they are having negative emotions such as sadness and anxiousness.

The story focuses on a dog named Dot who goes to the hospital with his owner to comfort young patients then gets into an accident and gets comforted by the children he once helped. The main idea is that the illustration in the book includes people of different colours, introducing diversity to the children. The takeaway that I want to have from this storytelling is for children to understand that helping others and being helped is a good interaction.

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If I were to introduce ‘The hospital dog’ to children as an educator, I would start by asking what animal it is while hiding the letters that say ‘dog’. I would start the page by showing the illustrations and listening to their interpretations before reading the words out loud. I would ask them what colour this character is wearing or does this person look happy or sad and simply what is happening in that scenario. This focuses on one of the practices for literacy development which is ‘meaning making’ where children would interpret meanings through pictures and words (Crafton et al., 2009). Then I would start reading the first sentence out loud, making them repeat after me. Another feature of the book is that the sentences are short and rhyme with one another which I could say out in an expressive tone and allow children to pick up quickly.

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If I were to sing this song in class, I would firstly provide the context of the song which is to encourage them that they can be anything they want and to believe in themselves. “Who wants to be a SUPERSTAR?! Who wants to be a PRESIDENT?!” Such questions would be asked to open doors for children to think about who they want to be in the future and what they see themselves doing in years down the track. The intention is to tell them that there are no such dreams that are too big to achieve and that ‘who says’ that they cannot be what they want, just like the lyrics in the song.

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For surely, I cannot be expecting children to create sketches with charcoal as it is something that needs to be experienced first by exploring its nature. They would be crushing them, grinding them, breaking them into pieces and might use their stained hands to rub on the paper. In this case, I would reassure children that experimenting with charcoal is supposed to have them broken up into crumbs, having messy dust on canvas and hands. This would be done to unleash their curiosity with experimenting charcoal while providing them a safe space to do so.

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Despite me having no presentable artistic skills, I realised that as long as I let my hands express my feelings on the canvas, it could still end up looking like an art piece, proving that the paintings visualised my voice (Gallagher et al., 2017). If so, I believe that children could express themselves through their choice of colours and tools and ways of putting paint on the canvas. Also, a collection of paints on a canvas is just more than just a mix of colours as it becomes more lively the more it gets creative (Pacini-Ketchabaw, 2016). I realised it the moment I finished my artwork as I allowed myself to enjoy the process rather than following a strict sketch, using different tools such as sponge, fingers and a basic paintbrush. The more I go with the flow of my hands, the more creative the artwork becomes. For children, I believe that this could allow them to express what it means to be living at the moment as materials contain elements to create and tell stories (Bassett, n.d.).

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Due to the nature of clay which is flexible and easily shaped, it has responded to the flow of my actions, allowing me to be creative endlessly (Pacini-Ketchabaw et al., 2016). Nevertheless, my experience with clay was different from those I had with other materials as it cannot be fixed from time to time as it gets hardened. That was when I learned that in order to work with clay, I need to have a vision firstly on what I want to create. My final artwork was my final art piece that was created after multiple failed, hardened clay parts.

Another thing I noticed is that handling clay requires balance because as I shaped the clay, I also had to be aware of its state (if it was breaking or getting too soft from water) (Pelo, 2016). This further highlights my failed attempts, as I did not understand the balance pressure to put in clay, leading them to crumble or be made into shapes that I did not intend.

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As an educator, I would like to expose children to the world of endless creativity that can be done with paper other than scribbling on it. Therefore, I would bring different kinds of paper such as coloured papers, newspapers and pamphlets. Similar to my artwork, I would still have some papers pre-cut into basic shapes. This would be done to teach children about shapes and colours while allowing them to experiment and have fun with the process of creating something new. I would also provide a cup of water and demonstrate how paper reacts when interacting with water and how it can be transformed into more texture when wet. As children love to extract things out, build and destruct their own work to have the project ongoing, I would also provide glue and plastic scissors to help them take things apart and to put them back again (Pacini-Ketchabaw et al., 2016).

To summarise, the aim of this experience is to introduce the maths (shapes) and the science (interaction with water) learning while playing. This could also lead to achieving the outcome 4 of EYLF as children would be developing skills with experimenting materials and making hypotheses on the state of paper when mixing with other matters (AGDE, 2022).

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I would introduce paint by bringing a palette of watercolour paints with various tools that are not just paint brushes. It would be sponges, plastic gloves and others that can be used as painting tools. The intention of the project would be to allow children to explore the beauty of colours and how they can bring them into reality though different tools. I would also encourage children to use their hands as a painting tool as finger-painting focuses on the usage of colours and creating textures based on how we move our hands on the canvas (Pelo, 2016). Moreover, I would also show pictures of aboriginal paintings and educate on the colours they mainly use for example, the aboriginal art in 1971 relied on the main use of black, white, yellow, red and brown water paints to create their traditional artworks (Aboriginal colours in art, n.d.). In this way, it would create a sense of belonging for the children of First Nations people that their culture is being appreciated while enjoying the experience with paints.

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As cited in ‘Multiliteracies in early childhood education’, one of the roles for an educator is to persuade children to play with the use of play spaces and materials (Hannan, 2023). Therefore, I would set up a play area like a table with a big chunk of clay on it which I would ask children to touch and allow them to take pieces apart to create their own individual craftwork. This aims to strengthen their fine motor skills and to experience the texture of clay.  I would also demonstrate the transformation of clay such as showing them how the state of clay changes when interacting with a bit of water and what would happen when a lot of water is added.

The desired outcome would be to have children contributing to the class by taking a fair amount of clay from that chunk, showing fairness towards other children as well as learning the nature of clay and how it can be moulded when it is handled in harmony.

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The song is named “Who says” by Selena Gomez and I chose to sing this for children as it is different from the nursery rhymes that they might have heard numerous times. I did have some doubts during the process as it is a pop song and wondered if it would be suitable for children to understand the meaning and be able to sing along. Nevertheless, after recording myself, I realised that adding actions along with the lyrics made the song more enjoyable and easier to understand the message. The reason to add actions to the song is to ensure that children whose first language is not english or who struggles to hear have a better understanding of the message I was trying to give through the song. I believe this to have a positive effect as one third of children in Australia who are enrolled in Early Childhood programs speak a different language than English as their first language (Cabezas & Rouse, 2014).

The only limitation of using this song would be that it is not age appropriate for children who are yet to learn words and their meanings. From the lyrics and tunes, the song would be appropriate for children of 50 months and above as that would be the time they learn how to sing and are able to concentrate for a longer period (Gallagher et al., 2017).

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The activity has provided me with an explanation of ‘to touch charcoal is to be touched by it’ to reality as I created this panda sketch by touching charcoal while my fingertips were also touched by charcoal, leaving them stained (Schroeder-Yu, 2008). I noticed that my table got really messy with all the charcoal dust and crumbs despite trying my best to keep it clean. This has taught me that in the hands of children, it would get messier; there would be more dust, crumbs and the possible situation of touching one another with charcoal printed hands. It is unpredictable on what could happen next when playing around with charcoal but I realised that is the point; to get along with unpredictability (Pacini-Ketchabaw et al., 2016). When this happens, I should be giving them the freedom to express themselves as children who are worried that they might get punished due to their actions would hinder themselves from doing things and stay behind (Hannan, 2023).

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My choice for creating this ‘cat’ art with coloured papers did not disappoint as I used vibrant colours to gain attention. From my artwork, I learned that paper can be worthy of attention when it is transformed based on creativity and that it can be shaped into anything and everything. I also learned that the basic shapes (circle, triangle, square, rectangle) can be put together to create endless artworks. Although I already knew that paper gets easily soaked and torn in water as a result, it took me experimenting and playing around with the materials to find out that what I thought would be a destruction could turn into artwork. I could see a change in the state of paper (the tail part) when it interacted with water, proving that there was a movement in the condition of it when there was an action acting upon it (Pacini-Ketchabaw et al., 2016).