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Paper has its own inclinations.
It acts on and with the water, air, etc. it becomes known by how it floats; how it does and how it moves. Paper becomes known as receptive, reactive, absorbent, responsive to touch, to folding, and floating. These movements may be subtle, yet working with paper means one moves with the material in continuous motion, joining forces with it, responding to its inclinations. Then, a gestural dance with a modulation of the material. This process will then become an open-ended question.

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Student name: YANYAN JIN
Student ID: s4671248
Unit code: ECE 6006

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how movement can be applied on early childhood teaching?

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We find that nothing about it is static and everything is in motion. Things move, bodies move, materials move, the air moves, everything moves with a different rhythm and intensity. Life is filled with motion, new becoming and emergences.  Movement may be felt, observed, dramatic, collective, choreographed, barely perceived.

The exploration and playing process help us to notice the phenomenon that we might always neglect in our daily life. It also guides us to investigate the function, experiment the cause the effects, also explore the STEM languages- Science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Therefore, this enquiry into the concept of movement will utilize three learning materials, which are paper, light and natural materials. Each inquiry will focus on how things can move by different forces (such as wind/water/air, etc.). It will explore how creative arts can be shown in the movement. What’s more, these inquiries also significant implications in early childhood settings, since it facilitates children’s hands-on learning opportunities and make the learning more engaging and fun.

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I wonder what which paper airplanes can fly longer distance? 

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I wonder what which paper airplanes can fly longer distance? 

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My material is paper

The artistic language I am using to respond to this is movement

My artefacts outcome is an airplane

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Most kids, including me, were so obsessed with the paper airplanes. They might ask their parents to make one for them or they might learn how to make their own airplanes.

I am wondering what kinds of factors will affect the flying distance and time of an airplane. I used same kind of paper to make two different airplanes in different shapes. One is made by one single paper, which is longer and balanced, while the other one is made by two pieces of paper, which is shorter and heavier. The result turns out that the longer one flies longer, however, the shorter one barely flies at all.

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Many people don’t really consider the scientific facts behind what makes a paper airplane fly, but this can be a great opportunity for kids to learn knowledge and enjoy the science.

Reflecting on my own exploration, I learned to find out the scientific reasons behind the phenomenon. There’s scientific reasoning behind the situation, which is explained by some experts. It is said that the air around us is one thing that assists the paper airplane fly. When we move our hands through the air, we will be able to feel the air around our hands, like we are slicing through it. Our hands then will be able to move more easily through the air at certain angle. The aerodynamics of a paper will determine the ease and distance at which it flies. It will need to have little drag and light enough to defy gravity.

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Such inquiry, which explores how paper moves in different shapes in early childhood education provides great opportunities for children to develop their independent thinking and exploration of science. Children can develop their fine motor skills when they fold the paper and make the paper airplanes. They can also experiment and investigate by themselves, compare and contrast different results and explore the cause and effects behind the results.

Children could work as a team, to make different shapes of paper airplanes, compete and explore the reasons behind the results together, which will also be helpful for their socialisation and teamwork.

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I wonder if Paper Boat will float in the water

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I wonder if Paper Boat will float in the water

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My material is paper

The artistic language I am using to respond to this is movement

My artefacts outcome is a paper boat

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The artistic process started when I recalled my mom often taught me how to make paper boat from my childhood. It's been so long, so I can barely remember the instructions. We did made a lot of Paper boats when I was young, but we've never put the boat into the water to see if it can float or it will sink. So I decided to have a try this time.

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When we are thinking about whether or not the paper boat will sink or float, and then trying to see if this exploration could help us to understand about fluids and density, which are some complex concepts for us to grasp and understand. There is no better-habit-forming to kids than asking about something and wondering, then taking the time to experiment and answer the questions. If we want to lead children to drive their own learning process, we then need to help them build as much confidence and curiosity as we can.

The more children get with asking and answering questions, it will build a solid foundation for their critical thinking skills. They will also be better to formalize the concepts in kindergarten later. They will have a real feeling and hands-on experience, and that will give them a real advantage.

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Making a paper boat is an open-ended learning opportunity, which is great to do with children of different ages, as they could get different things out of the activity depending on their current knowledge and abilities. By providing children with a few additional objects and questions that we can prompt a wide range of self-led learning. It would be great to be able to explore alongside the children and offer relevant and new vocabularies as and when it arises in an age-appropriate manner.

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I wonder how we can perceive the movement of light? 

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I wonder how we can perceive the movement of light? 

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My material is light

The artistic language I am using to respond to this is movement

My artefacts outcome is a hand drama

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My material is light

The artistic language I am using to respond to this is movement

My artefacts outcome is a cat chases the light

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My material is natural materials (leaves and wind)

The artistic language I am using to respond to this is movement

My artefacts outcome is swinging leaves

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I wonder how sticks and leaves move when there is wind? 

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I wonder how sticks and leaves move when there is wind? 

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My material is natural materials (leaves and sticks)

The artistic language I am using to respond to this is movement

My artefacts outcome is a wind chime made by natural resources

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There are movements and what is produced by the movements. There is movement as acting and as being acted on. In the process of learning materials’ movements, we find our way to asking questions. We've learned to move with the materials and attended to the ways we were moved in response. We get to know that learning itself is movement.

Koepke (2015) states that making is a three-way conversation with material, which includes: "what will it let me do? What does it want to do? What is it that I want to do?"

These acts of taking and being taken, giving and receiving; these opportunities to go places , instinctually, conceptually, intellectually and affectively  are constant movements and negotiations.

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The swinging leaves on the trees reminded me of the wind chime that I've bought from a market last year. So I was wondering if it's possible for me to make my own wind chime by natural resources, such as flowers/leaves/sticks.

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Making will result in an actual object or an engagement in a series of event. It involves the alchemic process of developing a feel and rhythm for the material (Ingold 2013). We often struggle with materials to find out what happens to them, what they look like and feel, and learn to follow them as they are mixed, combines with other materials and elements. In this way, a material is known not by what it is but by what it does. Making includes a multitude of gestures and movements.

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In early childhood, making is closely related to materials.
materials are often set out for children to create or make something with assumption. Children are full of ideas, and they are waiting for the chance to express their ideas through the materials. As Hillevi Lenz (2010) Describes “the material world” acts on our thinking as much as our thinking acts on the material world”. We are moved by materials and are prompted by the materials’ own characteristics and liveliness. It is never as simple as idea directly imposed on form.

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The artistic process started when my cat was playing my shadow on the wall. I've never noticed my shadow at home before. His behaviour inspired me to investigate the light and shadow, and how we could possibly perceive the movement of the light.

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I was wondering:
- how does light and projection change the appearance and size of objects
- how are shadows created
- what do we make shadows bigger and smaller

Exploring light and darkness holds fascination for me. I was  able to manipulate shadow creating images or a fun activity with my cat. To extend on this activity, I might include other props such as mirrors to make it more unusual. The interplay of light and shadow with other reflective surfaces such as mirrors and mirror blocks will provide unusual perspectives and viewpoints.

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In early childhood education, playing with light and its reflection is magical. We can encourage children to explore their own questions through investigation, development of theory and then experiment to test the theory.

Through engaging with light and shadows, children are able to explore a whole range of theory. from reflection to size, perspective, colour, position, shapes to transparency.

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The artistic process started when I noticed that Melbourne has been so windy these days. So I went to the Flagstaff garden to observe how trees, grass and leaves move when on a windy day.

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Light play is a form of educational activity which falls under sensory play, which is the key for children to unlock their understating of the world around them. Sensory play helps to build children's nerve connections in the brain's pathways, which aid children in their capability to complete more complexing and complicated tasks (LOFTEK 2019).

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Most chldren love to play outside in any kind of weather. Outdoor is a great science classroom for children to explore.
When we take the children outside, we can look for things outside that are being blown around by the wind, such as a leaves or grasses swaying.

Then we can help children to describe what they see, feel, and hear. Take a few moments to have children stand still and feel the wind blowing in their faces.

We can also extend the concept once we return indoor. Have children act out being the wind. Place a few paper or leaves on the table. Have a child sound like the wind as she blows them off the table. Or let children move like trees, leaves, or butterflies that are blown by the wind. It can also help them develop their motor skills.

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My artistic process started when I found out that my cat's favourite everyday excursive is catching the laser light.
When I press the button and let the red laser land in a pinpoint on the floor, or the wall... and he will pounce very quickly with a strange sound.

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Considering the my cat's typical exercise routine consists of moving from napping spot to another napping spot, he might need a bit of encouragement to incorporate exercise into their routine.

That’s where the fast moving red light can prove beneficial. As we know, cats are natural predators and love capturing things. The laser pointer provides an outlet for them to have fun chasing and batting about the moving dot.

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In early childhood setting we could also do something similar as the cat chasing the laser light. For example: "Trace the shadow"
- Before the activity, we can grab a few pieces of chalk on a sunny day.
- Go out to a sidewalk.
- Have the child stand still and have his shadow traced by the educator or another friend.
- Do this activity a few times throughout the day and make observations.
- Then we should see the shadow keep the same shape but change the size. The size depends on the angle of the sun.

or we can also play "Moving Light"
- Grab a magnifying glass and a piece of blank white paper. - Move the magnifying glass close to the paper and away from the paper.
- Note what happens on the paper. The light on the paper should change sizes.

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Ingold, T. 2013. Making: Anthropology, New York, NY: Routledge. movement, knowledge, and archeology, art, and description . architecture New (Kindle York, version).

Lenz Taguchi, H. 2010. Going beyond the theory/practice divide in early childhood education: Introducing an intra-active pedagogy . New York, NY: Routledge.

LOFTEK 2019. Five Key Benefits of Sensory Play and Light Up Toys for Your Children. https://loftek.us/blogs/news/5-key-benefits-of-sensory-play-and-light-up-toys-for-your-children

Koepke, M. (2015). Towards a pedagogy of moments: Radical pedagogies. Inflexions, Encounters with Materials in Early Childhood Education, Taylor & Francis Group

Pacini-Ketchabaw, V., Kind, S. and Kocher, L., n.d. 2016 Encounters with materials in early childhood education.