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I would like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional owners and Custodians of the land on which we meet today, the families and forebears of Boonwurrung, Woiwurrung (Wurundjeri) and Wathaurung (Wadawurrung) who are the custodians of the land and have been for many centuries, and pay my respects to Elders past and present, as well as to emerging.

I extend that respect to all the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

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During my country visit, I explored the sounds, movements, and drama of the place. I listened to the barking of dogs, the chirping of crickets, and the melodic serenades of katydids. I also observed the stillness and serenity of the night, the shadows, and the dancing clouds on a windy evening. These experiences helped me create activities for children that were both meaningful and fun. I laid the foundations for the children to understand certain concepts and encouraged them to explore and try things on their own. I set up a corner in the room with toys and other materials, intentionally making it look messy, to encourage the children to explore and have playful interactions throughout the activities.

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I used creative titles to capture the playful and adventurous spirit of children engaging in activities as if they were interacting at night. For my creative experiences, I decided to be more innovative and showed the video to children where they engaged with my vision of night. After the video interaction, I started to guide the play by asking them questions about the play. The children came up with a lot of creative activities and used the stillness and silence of the night as inspiration throughout the activities. For the music theme, they came up with “tuneful trash,” in which they started playing with surrounding tools and objects lying in the room. Some were still talking, while some used the objects in the area to come up with musical sounds to create a song.

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For the theme of movement, children embraced the concept of "stillness in the night" by creating a game called "Quiet Night Chaos." In this game, the participants would lie still on the floor and count to 10. The first person to move would be eliminated, and the last person remaining would win.

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For the drama theme, the children used shadow game gestures from my video and decided to create a chasing story game called "Croc-Fish Dash." This was imaginative for them, as they made characters of fishes and crocodiles. The crocodile would try to eat the fish, and those who got eaten would be eliminated. However, the children further developed the game by incorporating toys lying around. One of them suggested that they become dinosaurs and that the dinosaurs could eat the crocodile. This started a game of chasing, with the children hiding, which highlighted their imagination and engagement through the game.

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I set up a corner in the room using toys, clothes, pillows and storage boxes to encourage the children to explore and engage. I chose a room that the children were familiar with to help them feel welcomed and comfortable.

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Throughout my planning activities and learning, I have embraced the Reggio Emilia approach, which emphasizes "understanding children as producers, not as consumers" (Edwards et al., 2011, p. 49). I have used an ongoing process to engage children in playful learning activities by asking them questions and encouraging them to come up with their own ideas for games, rather than simply imitating what they have seen. This approach has been effective in fostering creativity and learning by allowing children to play while they learn.

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I utilized the open space in a room and gathered children around.

The children used my video as a source and began finding objects around the room.

They used the tubs lying around to make tapping sounds.

One child started speaking and tried to create tunes from the loose parts lying around, thus making a song.

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As I watched, children were engaging in different activities, creating a mess and making sounds, although the sounds harmonized. Through this experience, children learned about the music of everyday objects and engaged in meaningful interactions with different items. They were creatively engaged throughout the activity as planned, exploring the sensory and interactive experience. I initially wanted it to be an outdoor activity, allowing the children to deeply engage with the natural environment and explore more, but due to political reasons, I couldn't organize such an experience. Additionally, there was a lack of planning and supervision needed to enhance the activity in a more natural way. Despite this, the overall outcome was brilliant. If there is a next time, I might introduce aboriginal music and help children use the allowed instruments to make it more fun and cultural. In my future practice, I would provide more resources and create a more active environment where children can incorporate their actions to understand sound. I will continue to incorporate this activity in my teaching practice to help children learn and engage more. Throughout the unit, I have learned that arts are a useful and vital tool in early childhood. My views on music have changed as I've discovered that children associate music with their development. Most of their language, sensory, and auditory development is developed through music. I still remember learning my ABCs through music, and I believe that music is a great asset for teachers, so I will incorporate it into my pedagogy for children's creative and cognitive development.

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The children watched my video, and after I asked them, they played a game called "Freeze Movement."

In this game, they had to freeze when someone said "dead fish."

The organizer had to count to ten, and if anyone moved during that time, they would be eliminated.

The last person to move would also be eliminated.

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In my observations, the children were engaged throughout the game. They were trying their best not to move and were using their physical muscles and motor skills to stay still. I expected the game to involve more movement, but due to the lack of an outdoor environment, the children came up with this creative idea, which was lacking in physical activity compared to cognitive engagement. If I were to perform this activity again, I would try to use a more outdoor approach to enhance movement and physical participation by the children. These activities can be used as a form of transition throughout the daily routines to divert their minds or to transition. My learning from this activity is that helping children perform actions and movements with their bodies can help them incorporate cognitive and physical skills throughout their daily activities.

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In this activity, a game of tagging was played where one child would become a crocodile and use a hand gesture to "eat" the fish.

The fishes would then run for their lives or hide in different places. Whoever got "eaten" by the crocodile would be eliminated.

As the children played, they improvised the tag game.

When one person got out, a child got angry and came up with the idea that he was a dinosaur and dinosaurs could eat crocodiles. This was imaginative and showed their perception of the game.

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The activity involved the imagination of children, who used their physical, cognitive, and social skills to participate. They incorporated a concept into a game, creating a memorable experience for themselves. However, due to the lack of an outdoor environment and the varying levels of engagement from the children, conflicts arose. Some children were not happy with the outcome of being "eaten" by a crocodile or a dinosaur. The children were overall engaging, but there was a lack of emotional understanding. In my future activities, I plan to use these games to help children engage and learn about the animal kingdom's food chains in a more organized and supervised manner.

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Australian Government Department of Education [AGDE]. (2022). Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (V2.0). Retrieved from Australian Government Department of Education for the Ministerial Council: https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-01/EYLF-2022-V2.0.pdf

Edwards, C. P., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. E. (2011). The hundred languages of children: The Reggio Emilia experience in transformation (3rd ed.). ABC-CLIO. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=820317

ISBN: 9780313359620

Ungunmerr-Baumann, M.-R. (2002). Dadirri: Inner deep listening and quiet still awareness (pp. 1-4). Emmaus Productions. https://www.dadirri.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Dadirri-Inner-Deep-Listening-M-R-Ungunmerr-Bauman-Refl1.pdf

Wallin, M., L. (June 2019). Let’s play outside- the importance of pretend play in natural settings. Community Playthings. https://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/the-importance-of-pretend-play-in-natural-settings#:~:text=When%20children%20are%20given%20the%20time%20and%20space%20to%20play,to%20cognitive%20and%20linguistic%20growth.

Wilson, R., A. (2018). Nature and young children: Encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315148533/nature-young-children-ruth-wilson

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Throughout my on-country visit, I was fascinated by the cacophony of sounds that filled the night. I was inspired to weave these sounds into a beautiful serenade. So, I planned an activity that draws inspiration from the art of deep listening in Aboriginal culture. As Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann stated, "A big part of dadirri is listening, and one can find peace and still awareness as there is no need for words" (Ungunmerr-Baumann, 2002).

During this activity, the children will use objects found around them or create sounds with their mouths to produce music or a song. This will showcase their innate ability to connect with their environment and infuse their daily play space with adventure and nature. This aligns with the learning “Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world as they Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment by engaging in use play to investigate and explore nature and the environment” (Australian Government Department of Education [AGDE], 2022, p. 43).

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The activity in the night is limited as there is little to do at night. I asked the children about a game they could play after watching my response on a country visit. They came up with a game involving movement in stillness. The children moved around the room and then stopped, pretending to be still until they won. It was fun to watch them imitate each other and be still. "Children made observations about the" (Edwards et. al., 2011, p.315) action and then moved after winning. This activity demonstrates "OUTCOME 3: CHILDREN HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF WELLBEING" as children develop movement patterns, mobility, and gross motor skills to manage and explore the physical environment (AGDE, 2022, p.47) and use their senses to be aware of their actions and understand movements.

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In drama, the children engaged in pretend play using the gestures of shadow play from my country's visit. They played a story game of tagging, which helped them navigate a drama story involving an interaction between a fish and a crocodile, emphasizing character development throughout the ongoing game. "Children participate in pretend play that requires more complicated interactions with their peers (cooperation, collaboration, sharing, negotiating). They are practising and strengthening their abilities to connect to other people in healthy, productive ways" (Wallin, 2019). This highlights "OUTCOME 3: CHILDREN HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF WELLBEING" as children become strong in their physical learning and mental well-being by participating in physical play, dance, and drama (AGDE, 2022, p.47). Additionally, the children used drama to create more pieces of the story and adapt it according to their surroundings and understanding by adding a character according to their understanding.

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I have learned that arts play a critical role in children's development, contributing to their spatial awareness and emotional regulation. I now understand the significance of dance, movement, music, and drama in early childhood development. Educators play a crucial role in encouraging children to express themselves through verbal and nonverbal language, gestures, and body language. These arts can be used for creative play and learning experiences to engage children, making learning both fun and meaningful. Encouraging spontaneous moments of music, dance, and drama helps children build language and memory skills. Providing space for children to move freely helps them develop physical coordination, confidence, and emotional awareness. Encouraging imaginative exploration and role-play enhances children's creativity, empathy, and storytelling abilities.