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The musical experience will invite children to close their eyes, deeply listen to nature-inspired sounds, and creatively recreate these gentle rhythms using their voices, bodies, and simple instruments.

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These three activities were inspired by my personal experience from the previous assessment, where I sat quietly next to a flower bush in the university car park and listened closely to the sounds around me. That moment helped me realise how even in ordinary spaces, children can connect deeply with nature through sound and imagination. It made me want to create simple, engaging moments where children can listen, move, and make music together with their environment.

I learned from Wilson (2007) that nature is a powerful space for children to play creatively and grow in many ways. Gano and Krull (2020) also highlight how outdoor sounds support children’s sensory development, focus, and understanding of space. The Reggio Emilia approach, shared by Gandini (2012), inspired me to see sound, movement, and music as meaningful “languages” that children naturally use to express themselves and make sense of the world. These sessions aim to support that kind of learning — playful, expressive, and connected to place.

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Audio recording of nature sounds (birdsong, rustling leaves, footsteps on gravel)

Simple percussion instruments (shakers, wooden sticks, bells)

Comfortable mats or cushions (optional)

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1. Welcome and Introduce (1–2 mins)
Sit in a circle outside. Say:
“Let’s listen carefully… what can we hear around us? Birds? Wind? Cars?”
Briefly discuss the sounds they notice.

2. Sound Discovery (2–3 mins)
Invite children to find a natural object they can make sound with (stick, leaf, stone).
Encourage them to explore its sound by tapping, rubbing, shaking, etc.

3. Create Our Sound Garden (4–5 mins)

Say: “Let’s make our own Sound Garden Song!”

Go around the circle and invite each child to make their sound one at a time.

After the first round, ask: “Can we repeat that together?”

Try combining 2–3 children’s sounds into a small “music group.”

Add humming, buzzing, or whooshing sounds to mimic wind, bees, birds.

4. Reflect and Wrap Up (1–2 mins)
Ask: “What was your favorite sound?” or “What did it remind you of?”
Optionally, record the session and play back for the group.

Assessment & Observation Notes

Did the child engage in creating or mimicking natural sounds?

Did they participate in the group rhythm and take turns?

Did they make creative connections (e.g., “This leaf sounds like the wind”)?

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After running the three short activities with children, I was amazed at how naturally they connected with sound and movement in the outdoor space. I began with our “Sound Walk,” inviting children to pause and listen closely to their environment.

Just as I had experienced in my own creative response, they quickly tuned in to the soundscape: birds chirping, the wind rustling the leaves, and distant traffic. This confirmed Gano and Krull’s (2020) idea that nature supports rich sensory learning.

One of the most delightful moments was during the “Sing Like a Bee, Dance Like a Tree” activity. The children fully embraced the imaginative play, buzzing like bees, flapping their arms, and swaying like trees. Their movement was spontaneous and joyful, and I saw first-hand how dance and play merge naturally at this age — something Dance Teaching Ideas (n.d.) highlights as essential for developing balance, coordination, and expressive thinking. However, some children were hesitant at first, especially when asked to choose between being a bee or a tree. Next time, I might model the roles myself first to make it less abstract.

This experience changed how I see music, movement, and drama — not as separate subjects, but as everyday languages that help children express and explore the world. Inspired by Gandini (2012), I now want to bring more open-ended, arts-based experiences into my future early childhood practice

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This movement activity is inspired by the gentle, flowing movements observed during my On Country visit. I noticed the slow swaying of leaves and flowers in the wind, the soft buzzing and darting movements of bees between blossoms, and the stillness of my own body in contrast to the world around me.

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This activity aims to bring outdoor movement provocations into indoor and outdoor early childhood settings. Many children in formal education are confined to structured movement or have limited sensory connection with nature. By recreating the feeling of the flower bush, bees, and wind, children can explore imaginative, expressive movement in a playful and reflective way.

The activity is grounded in Wilson’s (2007) concept of open-ended play in nature, Dance Teaching Ideas (n.d.) on creative movement supporting physical and emotional development, and Gandini (2012) who sees movement as one of the "hundred languages" children use to explore, express, and communicate.

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Scarves or strips of soft fabric (blue for breeze, yellow for bees, green for leaves)

Speaker/audio device with soft wind sounds, bee buzzes, gentle instrumental background music

Space for free movement (can be outdoors or indoors)

Optional: Projector or images of flowers, bees, trees (for visual provocation)

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Setting the Atmosphere (2 mins)

Invite children to close their eyes.

Play soft wind and bird sounds. Ask them to listen:
“Can you hear the wind? The bees? What do you feel in your body?”

2. Introducing Movement (2–3 mins)

Give children a scarf and invite them to move like the wind, a bee, or a leaf.

Prompt gently:

“How does the wind move?”

“How would a bee visit a flower?”

“Can you float like a leaf falling?”

3. Dance Together (3–4 mins)

Use gentle music and invite the whole group to move freely.

Let children switch roles or respond to one another.

Encourage storytelling through movement:

“Is your bee dancing with a friend?”

“Is your tree bending in the breeze?”

4. Wind Down (1 min)

Ask children to freeze like statues.

Invite deep breaths and a seated circle reflection.

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During my On Country visit, I was drawn into a quiet kind of dance that was already happening all around me, the leaves gently swaying in the breeze, bees hovering from flower to flower, and the soft wind brushing past my skin. I didn’t choreograph anything; I simply became part of it by being still and aware. The flower bush, the bees’ rhythmic movement, and the calmness of my own body all contributed to this peaceful moment. Inspired by that, I brought the experience into an early childhood setting using simple tools like audio sounds, soft fabric props, and guided visualisation. Even without direct access to nature, we turned a classroom space into an imaginative “garden,” allowing children to move like bees or float like leaves. They weren’t told how to dance , instead, they were invited to explore and express freely, which helped keep them engaged and connected. This experience has reshaped how I view movement: not just as a fun activity, but as a powerful language for learning, imagination, and mindfulness in early childhood.

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This activity is inspired by the quiet drama I experienced during my On Country visit, sitting by a large bush surrounded by bees, flowers, and the gentle sound of the breeze and traffic. I imagined the birds and bees communicating with one another, working together to protect and care for their “secret garden.” This experience made me wonder: what if children could step into that imagined world and become characters within it , guardians of nature, messengers of the wind, or even the bees themselves?

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This drama activity is rooted in the belief that young children learn best through imagination, movement, and sensory-rich experiences. Inspired by my On Country visit where I imagined bees and birds caring for a secret garden, this experience becomes the foundation for children’s dramatic play, allowing them to embody roles, invent stories, and explore relationships between themselves and the natural world.

In The Hundred Languages of Children, Vecchi (as cited in Gandini, 2012) emphasizes that drama, like other expressive languages, supports children’s symbolic thinking and offers “autonomous vehicles of expressive freedom.” Through role-play and imaginative provocation, children don’t just perform, they interpret the world and their place within it. This aligns with the Reggio Emilia philosophy that art and drama are not extra activities, but essential ways of constructing meaning.

Drama also intersects with social-emotional learning. According to UNICEF (2019), music and rhythm help children regulate emotions and form attachments. Similarly, dramatic storytelling allows children to step into the emotional world of another character — whether it’s a buzzing bee or a watchful tree, fostering empathy, collaboration, and emotional literacy. Children practice turn-taking, listening, and perspective-taking as they move within the imagined story.

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A calm space (indoors or outdoors)

Audio: soft nature sounds (birds, wind, bees)

Optional: scarves, wings, leaves for costumes or props

A few printed story prompts or visual images (flowers, bees, trees)

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1. Set the Scene (2 mins)

Have children sit in a circle.

Play nature sounds softly. Ask them to close their eyes.

Say: “Imagine you are in a secret garden. You’re not a person — you’re something else. Maybe a bee, a flower, a tree, or a breeze.”

2. Introduce the Story (2–3 mins)

Tell a short story:

“In the middle of the city, there’s a hidden garden. No one can see it except the creatures who care for it. The bees hum important messages. The wind whispers secrets. The trees listen and protect. What role will you play?”

3. Dramatic Play (4–5 mins)

Invite children to choose a character and move around the space.

Prompt with questions:

“How does your character move?”

“What do they see or protect?”

“Can you talk to another character without words?”

“What does your garden need today?”

4. Reflect Together (1 min)

Gather back in a circle. Ask:

“What were you? What did your character feel or do?”

Optionally, record short reflections or draw the scene later.

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During my On Country visit, I imagined the bees and birds as silent guardians of a peaceful garden, each playing their role in keeping the space alive. That invisible story felt like a quiet drama unfolding around me. To bring this experience into a classroom, I used storytelling, sound, and imagination to create a similar atmosphere for children. Even without being in nature, children could become bees, wind, or trees, acting out their roles in a “secret garden” through body language and expressive play. We used a quiet space, nature sounds, and gentle prompts to help them connect emotionally and creatively. Instead of performing for someone, they were simply invited to be present in the story. This activity reminded me that drama isn’t just about performance — it’s about perspective-taking, feeling, and imagination. It’s a powerful way for children to engage with place and self, even within the walls of a classroom.

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These three activities: music, movement, and drama, were inspired by my On Country visit near a flower bush. Children explored natural sound through voice and recordings, moved like wind and bees, and used drama to imagine caring for a secret garden. Each activity brought elements of nature into the classroom, encouraging expression through sound, body, and storytelling.

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Dance Teaching Ideas. (n.d.). Creative dance-play for early childhood. Retrieved from https://danceteachingideas.com/creative-dance-play-for-early-childhood/

Gandini, L. (2012). 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. 303–316). ABC-CLIO, LLC. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=820317

Gano, D., & Krull, S. (2020, July). Natural sensory learning. Community Playthings. Retrieved from https://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/2020/natural-sensory-learning

UNICEF. (2019, June 13). Is your baby getting enough music? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kHPhNhVgPM

Wilson, R. (2007). Children, creative play, and the natural environment. In R. Wilson (Ed.), Nature and young children: Encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments (pp. 1–18). Routledge.