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Documentation panel of movement experience. 

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Documentation panel of movement experience. 

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Activity: Dance Like a Bird: Examining Mobility and Bonding Through Play Inspired by Nature.

Summary: through imaginative dance, role-playing, and sensory engagement, this activity gave children the chance to investigate the motions and actions of birds. My daughter copied how birds fly, eat, and communicate, reflecting the essence of bird existence. She demonstrated a sense of freedom, joy, and communication through movement and music by interacting with family members using natural materials (such as a leaf as a wing) and expressive movement. This informal yet profoundly important action examined topics of emotional expression, imaginative movement, family bonding and nature.

Learning outcomes:
Encourage expressive movement and creativity with dance inspired by nature.
Gain knowledge of the natural rhythms and behaviors of creatures.
Support emotional connection and communication through roleplay and sound.
Encourage the use of organic materials to stimulate the senses .
Imaginative movement: Children use their own body language and sounds to understand wildlife behaviors.
Using materials and space in a creative way, a child started her own idea of being a bird.
By duplicating the interactions of birds in the wild, movement and sound were employed to portray freedom and connection.

Rationale: I observed birds flying together, moving in unison as a family and communicating by sound. My daughter's natural curiosity was sparked by these discoveries, and she started dancing and moving to mimic bird actions. Vecchi and Gandini (2011) explain the Reggio Emilia philosophy, which views movement and nature as potent "languages" that children use in order to understand and convey their environment, as shown in this relationship between creative play and real-life animal actions.
Children who participate in these types of physical and imaginative learning not only investigate natural scientific ideas but also express their feelings, strengthen their ties to their families, and improve their motor skills. The activity demonstrates how child-led inquiry and real-world experiences lead to meaningful learning.

Reflection:  The situation underlined the deeply children take in and react to nature. In addition to seeing birds, my daughter's dance and movement demonstrated her desire to emotionally connect with me; she utilized her "wings" to entice me into her imaginary world. It served as a reminder of the impact of free, outside play. In the future, I hope to provide additional chances for nature-inspired movement-based learning, including storytelling with actions outside or group "animal dance" sessions. These exercises foster children's emotional and creative expression while strengthening their bond with the environment.

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SENSORY STORYTELLING Guide: A Webinar for Teachers and Parents

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This video is designed to help assist parents, teachers and librarians add sensory elements into their storytelling for children with disability.

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Silent Storytelling: The Art of the Mime

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"Come sit with me and wait for the squirrels! Let's make a song to call them." "First we need to get more acorns. They won't want to come to our house if we don't have dinner ready for them." "You're right. Let's fill the whole bag up, then we can cook and wait for them at the tree in our house."
These are the sounds of children at work and at play. Collaboration, creativity, imagination, inventiveness, problem-solving, coordination, physical strength-when children are given the space and time to freely play outdoors, truly the whole child is able to grow.

Even outside of the school setting, open, natural outdoor space is a treasured and limited commodity, especially in urban areas. Of course, there is a range of environments that can be referred to as "natural," from untamed forests and grasslands to nature preserves to designed and constructed public parks. Many children only have access to more structured outdoor areas, such as playgrounds, ball courts, and running tracks, which are less flexible spaces for imaginative play.

Studies have shown play is crucial for many areas of children's development-from physical strength to cognitive and linguistic growth. One 2008 study found that play contributes greatly to physical health-using more calories than comparable organized physical activities (Mackett & Paskins, 2008).

There is a growing amount of research showing that children who participate in complex, collaborative, pretend play are better able to regulate their emotions and implement creative problem-solving (Hoffman & Russ, 2012). High-level, complex pretend play can significantly facilitate children's capacities for perspective taking, which can facilitate abstract thought (Bergen, 2002). According to a study done in early 2016, the more complex and detailed a young child's pretend play is, the more advanced their cognitive processing needs to be-as their play stretches and grows, so do their brains (Li, Hestenes & Wang, 2016). The same goes for social skills-when preschool-aged children participate in pretend play that requires more complicated interactions with their peers (cooperation, collaboration, sharing, negotiating) they are practicing and strengthening their abilities to connect to other people in healthy, productive ways.

Setting the Stage for Play

Just as we deeply consider what materials we make available to our children in the classroom (open-ended, inclusive, differentiated), we ought to also be thoughtful about the space and supplies we provide for our students in their outdoor play and learning experiences. When looking at what children play with outside, think about the materials in natural settings: pine cones, sticks, leaves, trees, and rocks-as opposed to more fixed materials like slides, chin-up bars, and swings. These objects, like open-ended materials in the classroom (fabric scraps, blank paper, blocks) have more affordance. Affordance refers to the different functions each material can serve, or, afford (Fjørtoft, 2001).

For example, a stick can have a large affordance, and be used in pretend play as a wand, a ladle, or a cane. It can also be used in more game-based play as a baseball bat, or an obstacle in a course. When allowed more flexibility with materials in spaces with more affordance (i.e in natural outdoor spaces), children tend to engage in more complex pretend play. It is worth considering that the play that occurs in greener, more "natural" spaces can be different, and possibly more complex and developmentally beneficial for young children. When natural, outdoor play areas are not available to you and your students, consider bringing some open-ended, natural materials to the children in the space you do have (fabric scraps, rocks, seashells, ribbon, leaves, tote bags). You will be amazed by how different their play can become with these organic and/or undefined props.

According to the philosophy of Reggio Emilia, the learning environment is the "third teacher" in early childhood education, after the two classroom teachers (Edwards, Gandini & Forman, 1998). This environment should include not only the indoor early childhood classroom, but also the outdoor environment. The environments where children play have an effect on them and the quality of their play.

A study of a Forest School, a school facilitated completely outdoors in England's Mersey Forest, found that it helped children connect with and learn not only about their natural environment, but also grow in "social skill development, confidence when interacting with the natural world, understanding, interest, motor skills, and leadership skills," (Ridger, Knowles & Sayers, 2012).

Having taught for many years at an urban preschool with very close access to nature (Prospect Park in Brooklyn), I was able to see firsthand the social-emotional, physical, and cognitive benefits of unstructured play in a natural setting for the children I worked with. When taken to the more open, natural setting in the park, the children's pretend play was dramatically more complex and sustained than when they were taken to the nearby playground. Children's conversations were richer, the groups of children playing together were larger, play scenarios were more sophisticated and were sustained over multiple days. The children collaborated, negotiated, and created complex scenarios and characters together.

In New York City, many early childhood centers rely on contained yards or nearby constructed playgrounds for outdoor physical activity, if they are provided the regular opportunity to be outdoors at all. Very few NY public school students have access to actual natural settings (i.e., uncontained spaces with trees, grass, or wildlife). In some schools, children may go days or weeks without spending any time outdoors at all, much less within natural elements. Disparate access to nature while in school is just another example of broader inequalities in our education system and our society at large. However, with the right resources, all children in urban areas can have opportunities to interact with nature (taking field trips to forest preserves, large parks, or similar sites)-investments that will shape the future of our city and the promise of its youngest citizens.

Pretend play is a sacred part of childhood. Furthermore, it has been proven to aid in children's development in many areas. Outdoor play, a scarce opportunity for many children living in urban areas, can provide even more benefits for children's development-physically, socially, and emotionally. With all that hangs in tenuous balance in our country, we as educators, caregivers, and parents must be even more vigilant about every child's human right to play in the great outdoors.

References

Bergen, D. (2002). "The role of pretend play in children's cognitive development." Early Childhood Research & Practice, 4(1). Retrieved: http://files.eric.ed.gov.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/fulltext/ED464763.pdf

Edwards, C., Gandini, L., Forman, G. (1998). The hundred languages of children. Westport, CT: Ablex Publishing.

Fjørtoft, I. (2001). "The natural environment as a playground for children: The impact of outdoor play activities in pre-primary school children." Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(2) 111-117.

Hoffman, J., Russ, S. (2012). "Pretend play, creativity, and emotion regulation in children." Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Art, 6(2) 175-184.

Li, J., Hestenes L.L., Wang, Y.C. (2016). "Links between preschool children's social skills and observed pretend play in outdoor childcare environments." Early Childhood Education Journal, 44, 61-68.

Mackett, R.L., Paskins, J. (2008). "Children's physical activity: The contribution of playing and walking." Children and Society, 22, 345-357.

Ridgers, N.D., Knowles, Z.R., Sayers, J. (2012). "Encouraging play in the natural environment: A child-focused case study of Forest School." Children's Geographies, 10 (1) 49-65.

Copyright © Exchange Press. Reprinted with permission from Exchange magazine. All rights reserved. Visit us at www.ChildCareExchange.com or call (800) 221-2864.

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The Importance of Pretend Play in Natural Settings

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The Importance of Pretend Play in Natural Settings

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What are imaginary friends?

Imaginary friends are pretend friends that children make up in their imaginations. They're usually nothing to worry about.

Imaginary friends come in all shapes and sizes. They can be based on someone your child already knows, a storybook character or even a soft toy. Sometimes they come purely from your child's imagination. They're mostly human, but they can also be animals.

These friends might always be there, or they might come and go. They might exist only in certain spots like the cubby house or at the kitchen table. And they might appear and disappear for no apparent reason.

When do imaginary friends appear and how long do they last?

Children as young as 2½ years can have an imaginary friend. Children might sometimes have more than one imaginary friend.

Children usually stop playing with make-believe friends when they're ready to move on. Imaginary friends are most likely to be around for several months, but they could be a feature of your child's life for a few years.

Why do children have imaginary friends?

Your child's imaginary friend could be someone who:

listens to and supports your child

plays with your child

can do things that your child can't do

is special and belongs only to your child

doesn't judge or find fault with your child.

Your child is in charge of what the imaginary friend says, what the friend does and who the special friend can 'play' with. This could also be part of the friend's appeal.

Imaginary friends allow children to explore a make-believe world that they create all by themselves. In fact, children with make-believe friends might be more imaginative and more likely to enjoy fantasy play and magical stories.

The way children play with or talk about their friends can tell you a lot about how they're feeling. Make-believe friends give you insight into your child's inner world, and your child's likes, dislikes and tastes.

Children with imaginary friends can be more social and less shy than other children, and they might show more empathy in their play with other children.

When imaginary friends cause problems

Here are some ideas for times when your child's imaginary friend has become hard to handle.

Doing things for imaginary friends
You might find that you're being asked to hold open doors, fix snacks or make the bed for your child's imaginary friend. Rather than doing it yourself, encourage your child to hold the door open, set a place for the friend at dinner or make the bed. This way you're accepting the imaginary friend but also taking the opportunity to develop your child's skills.

Talking through imaginary friends
Some children insist on consulting with their imaginary friends all the time - for example, 'I have to ask Sammy first'. They might also ask you to speak to their friend, rather than directly to them. If this is getting frustrating, try saying to your child, 'I want to hear what you think - not what Sammy thinks'.

Blaming imaginary friends
Sometimes children will do or say something they shouldn't have and blame their imaginary friends. You can handle this by clearly telling your child that the imaginary friend could not have done this. Then follow up with an appropriate consequence, like making your child clean up the mess.

When to worry about imaginary friends

For a very small number of children, imaginary friends can be a symptom of other issues. If you're worried about your child's imaginary friend - for example, if your child has been through a traumatic event or the imaginary friend is being malicious or nasty - consult your GP or another health professional.

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Imaginary friends come from healthy imaginations. They help children express feelings and practise skills. Children usually grow out of imaginary friends.

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The Atelier 305
The Hundred Languages of Children : The Reggio Emilia Experience in Transformation, edited by Carolyn Edwards, et al., Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/detail.action?docID=820317.
Created from vu on 2025-04-11 15:07:59.

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Vecchi, V., & Gandini, L. (2011). The atelier: A conversation with Vea Vecchi. In C. Edwards, L. Gandini, & G. Forman (Eds.), The hundred languages of children: The Reggio Emilia experience in transformation (3rd ed., pp. 409–425). Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ProQuest Ebook Central.

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| Creative Dance Teaching Ideas and Resources

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Dance in early childhood learning is fun and rewarding for students, teachers and for parents. Young children are made to move and are natural wigglers. Dance provides a fun movement activity while developing concentration and attentiveness.

Dance-play activities encourage young children to practice balance and motor skills while stretching the imagination.

They have an inbuilt spirit of inquisitiveness and creativity and are intuitively sociable, loving the adventure of doing. Modern child psychology explores the ideas that children learn by doing and engage their bodies to see, hear and touch what interests them.

Furthermore, what young children do in play through rhythm and movement, with someone they love, can lay the ground work for the accumulation of complex skills later in life (Delafield-Butt and Tevarthen, 2015).

As dancers, children explore space and time in active experiences, sharing feelings and making decisions about intentional movement.

Dancing at home and school with younger students

Sharing activities that are linked to actions, events, and interesting objects gives children a chance to experiment with language. By observing parents and teachers in the process of dance, your children learn to explore a range of gestures and facial expressions that are appropriate for sophisticated communication.

"I can do it myself!"

Yes, they can do Dance-play for themselves. Children are able to progressively do more things for themselves, so movement activities should encourage choice and individual expression. A range of stimulus material can allow your child to explore and develop new skills.

Dance Activity

For example, a basket with a range of lengths of fabric, in different textures, can initiate many creative movement activities. This age group begins to understand symbolism and will readily see a scarf as being the wind or a slithering snake.

These stimulus objects encourage children to learn through dance-play, as they choose what interests them not just what you want to 'teach' them. Inviting children to tell you what they see and experience as they move, develops pathways to engaging in learning in later years.

Dancing in nature

Children need opportunities to touch and sense through a changing landscape. Outside dance and movement on grass or sand is a chance to talk about 'easy' and 'difficult'.

How do they sense their natural world through their whole body? What do they understand about their world as they feel the surface of the earth when they dance?

Even though dance is about movement it is also important to be still. The act of stillness when making shapes helps children to understand their impulse to move.

Keep in mind that stillness in young children causes fatigue. They do NEED to move.

When still, they can hear the rhythm of their own body as they breath. They can hear the world around them and ready themselves for even more movement.

Dance activity

Try making statues in the garden that shows the shapes of their favourite tree. Respond to the shapes they have created. For example, "What a lovely curved shape this statue has! It's making me look at the curved branches of the tree that it is under. What do you think?".

Encourage them to take risks with their shapes, as they explore balance. Stay close but don't interfere with a 'be careful', that pops out of our mouths without thinking. All children are excited to experiment.

Then swap places and have them tell you about your shape. You will be surprised at the range of their opinions and ideas.

Lying, watching the clouds float above them and then moving like the clouds is a chance for your child to closely observe nature.

Patterns in dance activities

Repetition helps the toddler to frame their mental images, not only of their own bodies but images of objects and how they work. It may not be a dance as you know it but a kind of ongoing science experiment.
How does this work?
What if I repeat it?
How is this the same or different?
Repeating similar activities often encourages children to remember their ideas about the activity and then build on them. They often will be confident with familiar patterns to lead the dance rather than following your examples.

Young children will find the their own body language through their own exploration of movement through dance-play. They find what feels good for them. What shapes or movements make them feel strong, safe, and joyful.

Physical benefits of dance-play

If these benefit are not enough to learn through dance-play consider the physical benefits.

* Develops upper body strength to aid in control for writing
* Supports fine motor movements used to turn the pages of a book or hold a pencil
* Eye focus for looking at books and screens
* Strengthens back muscles for sitting and standing
* Develops balance

Simple is often the best for this age range.

Safe dance at home

As with any activity you need to ensure that your child is safe to explore. Making sure there is space to move and that they have bare feet and a non slippery floor surface will reduce the risk of falls when they experiment with their balance.

Be prepared to do any activity only as long as the children are interested. This age group needs to be engaged to learn. They may want to jump from one activity to another depending on their personal interest. That's ok.

Using relaxation as a part of dance activities

In our busy world, children need a chance to relax, so try to incorporate at least one relaxation activity with your child after movement play. Helping children let go in their muscles when they stop to count their breath or try to stretch their full length on a blanket, gives them the opportunity to learn how to pause...even for a minute!

Relaxation activities are also a chance for children to learn about their bodies and begin to develop mindfulness. It supports attentiveness to how they are feeling and help develop self awareness.

Dance Relaxation Activity

Try lying together in a comfortable space. Surrounded by pillows is good as children will feel safe and relaxed. If they want to close their eyes it is good to really focus on the body part.

Move their toes on one foot and then the other.

Repeat with their fingers.

Try making a fist with both hands and then releasing.
For more education ideas for dance activities with your pre-schooler/toddler, at home or school visit this page.
Squeeze and crunch up their face and then relax.
Deans, Jan & Wright Susan. (2018). Dance-Play and Drawing-Telling as Semiotic Tools for Young Children's Learning. Routledge.
You can repeat with different body parts. Once again, try not to go for too long as some young children will lose focus quite quickly.

At the end of these activities make sure there is time to lie quietly and really relax. Have children focus on their breath.

Moving with your child is a rewarding experience as you watch them explore and grow in confidence. Dance-play is a wonderful way for toddlers and young children to share your world and to communicate through creative play.

Delafield-Butt, J. T., & Trevarthen, C. (2015). The ontogenesis of narrative: From movements to meaning. Frontiers of Psychology, 6

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Dance in early childhood learning is fun and rewarding for students, teachers and for parents. Young children are made to move and are natural wigglers. Dance provides a fun movement activity while developing concentration and attentiveness. Dance-play activities encourage young children to practice balance and motor skills while stretching the imagination.

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How singing together changes the brain: Tania de Jong AM at TEDxMelbourne

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She made a bird sound and used her wings (leaf) to try to connect with me (family).

Creative Dance-Play for Early childhood 'As dancers, children explore space and time in active experiences, sharing feelings and making decisions about intentional movement'.

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How music affects your baby’s brain: Mini Parenting Master Class

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Discover how tapping into music can benefit your child

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Documentation panel of drama experience.

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Documentation panel of drama experience.

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Activity: Bird Life, An Exciting Dramatic Adventure.

Summary: this organized dramatic play activity allowed children to use their imaginations to investigate the lives of birds. Children acted out a variety of scenarios, including flying in murmurations, building nests, and feeding baby birds. Teamwork, artistic expression, and nature play were all linked into this activity. Children demonstrated cooperative and caring behaviors by choosing their own nest-building materials and assuming roles such as mother, baby, and daddy bird. Through play, the experience gave children a chance to learn more about wildlife, grow in empathy, and investigate ideas of community, family, and caring.

Learning outcomes:
Through roleplay, promote creative storytelling and thought.
Encourage kindness and an awareness of the interactions and behavior of animals.
Build projects and work with materials to develop the fine motor abilities.
Encourage learning a language through conversation and engagement.
Open-ended play encouraged children's creativity and agency by allowing them to select their own roles and resources.

Rationale: I observed birds interacting closely with one bird making a sound and others echoing it. They stayed together as a family, shifted together and followed one another's instructions. This feeling of community, communication, and purpose had a big impact on how I planned the children's play-based learning process. Among children, I saw a similar pattern. Like the birds in the wild, all of our "little birds" followed one another's guidance. As they took care of one another, built comfortable nests and copied bird behaviors, children naturally took on roles such as mother, baby and daddy bird. They also showed genuine empathy and collaboration. Reflecting the natural patterns, the experience allowed them to investigate themes of empathy, community, family, and teamwork.

Reflection: The activity was successful in encouraging creativity, teamwork, and a relationship with the natural world. Children demonstrated an excellent understanding of roles, actions, rich roleplay and conversation developed naturally. The child who played the role of the mother bird was particularly kind, demonstrating how play can promote emotional growth. One generally reserved child became rather involved and showed leadership by building a nest. To enhance the learning process, I intend to expand this exercise in future sessions by adding picture books on birds, puppet stories, or bird melodies.

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Documentation panel of sound experience. 

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Documentation panel of sound experience. 

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Activity: Shake, Listen, Repeat: Exploring Sound and Rhythm.

Summary: Children engaged in a group activity where they used shaking eggs to react to sound as part of this planned music and sensory experience. They were instructed to use their sense of hearing to identify and repeat the rhythm and sound patterns created while seated with their backs to the guide. The purpose of this engaging and enjoyable activity was to develop audio memory, listening skills, and early musical ideas like beat and rhythm. In addition to providing a pleasant method for interacting with others, the experience promotes both cognitive growth and sensory integration.

Learning outcomes:
Improve memory and sound identifying abilities.
Use active listening to improve focus and attention capacity.
Explain the fundamentals of music (beat, rhythm).
Promote collaboration and taking turns in the group.
Children avoiding their eyes from the visual notification, they focused only on listening.

Children memorize patterns by repeating rhythms they hear.
Combining sound (listening), movement (shaking), and memory (repeating) is known as multi-modal engagement.

Rationale: This activity, in which children used shaking eggs to react to sound, closely resembles what I saw when I visited countryside. I observed how a bird would make a certain call, and then other birds copied it. The children's musical activity was inspired by this natural pattern of sound replication, teamwork, and direction-following. Children participating in the activity were reminded to pay close attention and repeat sound patterns, which improved their auditory recall and listening skills, just like the birds did when they responded to one another through auditory signals.

Reflection : the children were so excited and involved. The majority of children showed excellent listening and memory skills by accurately reproducing the sounds. Some later need additional time or visual assistance, identifying areas that required specific assistance. The exercise promoted focus and created a calm, focused environment. In order to acquire deeper musical abilities, this activity might be extended in the future by adding visual rhythm cards or layering different sound patterns.

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Here, I invite children to become familiar to the sound of shaking eggs and how they operate. Children can use shake eggs as musical instruments to promote rhythm development and sound discovery. When shaken these eggs are made to make a soft rattling sound.

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One of the child in front of me repeated the same activity we did as a group. I shaken the egg once and he did the same , I shaken it twice and he did the same until we finished. Shaking egg shakers, also known as egg instruments, can help children in particular with emotional regulation by improving focus, impulse control, and self-awareness, as well as by helping them develop self-control, patience, and cooperation while lowering frustration and aggression too.

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This is a short clip of my own visit to the country . I noticed a lot of birds. First, a bird made a sound then other birds made the same sound. They stayed together as a family, and I also noted that they followed one another directions.

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I have created a space where children can act out scenarios such as feeding baby birds, building nests, or even flying in a murmuration.  As a dramatic play, a bird can include a variety of activities, such as making wings and beaks, building a nest, through participating in dramatic activity that resemble bird actions.

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Children were seated in front of me facing away. They copied my sound without looking at me by using their hearing sense while I was making a noise with a shaking egg. Especially in early childhood education and music therapy contexts, shaking eggs as a group can be an enjoyable and engaging musical activity. It can improve cognitive functions including remembering and hearing. Children can benefit from it by learning about beat, rhythm and other musical ideas.

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In order to allow the children to make their own nest as a family of birds, I set up a tub with a blanket on top and some materials (leaves, bark, sticks, wool yarn, golden ribbon, an orange piece of cloth, pine cones, and scissors).

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All our little birds are following each other's direction to move forward to build their nest.

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My daughter acts like she's a bird. She demonstrated how a bird might eat, fly in the wind and feel free with some dance and movement.

In the Reggio Emilia approach, as discussed in the chapter, movement is recognized as one of the "hundred languages"—a form of communication and discovery. Encouraging children to "dance like a bird" connects directly to this idea: children embodying the essence of birds through movement is a creative language, allowing them to express observations, emotions, and understandings of the natural world.

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After exploring, the children selected the materials they wanted to use to make a warm and comfortable nest to sit in. Two children sat inside the nest after it was completed, and one of them played like a mother bird to feed the baby bird. Sitting outside, the child was acting like a daddy bird.

Dramatic play, even for children fosters creativity and imagination. By engaging in pretend scenarios, birds (children) can explore different roles and scenarios, developing their ability to think outside the box. Dramatic play allows them to experiment with language and communication. They learn to express themselves, understand others, and develop their vocabulary.