# data[].attributes.body
Last week, I visited the garden for our On Country experience, allowing myself to slow down, listen and notice the small details of the place. What surprised me was how naturally music, movement, and drama appeared in the environment. I had gone in expecting to "observe" but instead I found myself joining in, humming with the birds, moving my hands with trees and imagining flowers talking back to me.

This project is my way of documenting that journey and showing how those encounters connect to Wilson (2007) idea that children build positive, lasting relationships with nature through sensory rich, playful experiences. It also demonstrates how I would bring those ideas into my early childhood practice by designing music, movement and drama experiences that are accessible, inclusive and connected to EYLF.

# data[].attributes.body
Wilson (2007) emphasises that children learn best in environment where they can explore freely, without fear and where nature is presented as something to enjoy rather than avoid. My own reflections highlighted how deeply sound, movement and imagination can connect us with place when we are open to it.

The EYLF and VEYLDF guided us to see learning as holistic, recognising children as capable learners who build identity, wellbeing, and communication through play. Linking my experience with this frameworks helps me plan learning opportunities where children can:

Use their senses to explore sound (music)

Connect with bodies with the rhythm of the natural world (movement)

Engage their imagination and empathy by giving voice to the environment

(drama)

My three lesson plans are grounded in these ideas, showing how children can learn not just in nature but WITH nature.

# data[].attributes.body
REFLECTION:

When I first sat down, the wind breeze, and birds stood out immediately, like they were setting the mood of the space. I thought I would only be tuning into the natural parts, but I realised the people around me, their murmur sound, footsteps, and laughter were just as much a part of the sound. It wasn't annoying, it actually layered into what I was hearing. Without really thinking, I started humming, and it felt like I was blending into the soundscape instead of just sitting outside of it. I think that's what surprised me the most, that I didn't feel like an observer, I feflt part of it. Next time, I'd love to wait in a transition time or a different times of day, especially in the morning to the afternoon, to hear how it changes. Wilson remind that sensory experiences can build joy in nature made sense here, I wasn't studying sound but I was enjoying it. In the future practice, I wanted to encourage children to notice and recreate soundscape like this, helping them feel that same sense of belonging.

🎶

# data[].attributes.body
LEARNING FOCUS- Listening to and creating with natural soundscape.

Step 1- Gather children outdoors and invite them to sit quietly for 1-2 minutes, to notice all the sounds

Step 2- Encourage all children to imitate what they hear (e.g. chirping, rustles, voices, footsteps)

Step 3- Adding their own sounds ( clap, hums or voices) to create a group "soundscape"

Step 4- Reflect together, what sounds made them feel? Does it makes them feel happy, calm or curious?

Accessibility:

For children with limited hearing- use vibrations ( stomps, drums, tapping sticks) to feel sound

For low vision- guide them with auditory focus, emphasising rhythm and pitch contrast.

# data[].attributes.body
I didn't plan to move much, but when I lifted my hands and copied the leaves in the trees swaying it just felt so natural. It was almost like the environment was already dancing and I was just like joining in. I expected to feel self consious, but instead it made me feel calm and a little playful, almost childlike. The ducks floating on the lake caught my eye, and noticed their movements were so different, smooth, gliding and steady compared to my hands which were light and windy. Next time, I'd love to use more of my body, not just my hands, to see how that changes the feeling. Wilson's point about freedom in nature really came through here. I didn't need a rules or a "right" way to move, I just need to follow what I saw and what I felt. I can see how powerful this could be with children, giving them permission to move like nature, instead of a teacher telling them now.

# data[].attributes.body
Learning Focus- Movement and Imagination through connection with place

Step 1- Begin with Simon says instruction using basic movements (jump, bend, etc)

Step 2- Add variation that connect to nature "Simon says flap your hands like a bird"

Step 3- Invite children to create their own movements for others to follow.

Step 4- Reflect together, which movements were fun, tricky or calming?

Accessibility:

For children with limited mobility- adapt movements ( seated stretching, clapping)

For children with sensory differences- providing a clear visual or verbal prompts

# data[].attributes.body
Outcome 1-Everyone felt free to try sunds their own way. I noticed my family laughing and stretching noises just to see what would happen, it made me thinks how kids learn who they are when they explore like this (Identity)

Outcome 2- Making the sounds together meant we had to listen to each other Sometimes someone would start a noise and other would follow or change it, it felt like a tiny team working out a song ( Community)

Outcome 4- I saw curiousity pop up everywhere. We were all experimenting with that the garden sounded like, trying things that worked and things didn't, just like kids do ( Learning)

Outcome 5- Using sound instead of words made me realise how expressive kids can be without talking. My family's humming, clapping and tapping turned into a conversation ( Communication)

# data[].attributes.body
This morning, I invited my family to try the soundscape, who role played as children. From the beginning, I noticed how they leaned into the play with curiosity and energy. When asked to sit quietly , each "child" responded in their own way, one slowly said "I can hear the wind" and another pointed out bird calls, and another one stomped their feet softly to mimic footsteps.

When I invited my family to copy the sounds, they started making the noises bigger and funnier than I expected. One person stomped dramatically like a giant, another flapped their wings while humming, and someone else tapped the sticks in fast, bouncy rhythm. It was playful and chaotic, and I realised even as adults, we instinctively experimented with the sounds, stretching them, mixing them and seeing what would happen.

As we finished, I tried to ask them about how each sounds made them feel. Some said the wind and birds felt calming, the clapping made them smile and the stomping made them felt excited. Even when they're a grown up, stepping into a child like way of noticing and responding made me really understand how children might experience this activity, curious, imaginative and full of joy.

# data[].attributes.body
At first, honestly I felt a bit silly pretending the flowers were talking to me. But once I let myself go with it, I actually started to enjoy it. When I imagine the flowers saying "hi" it made me smile straight away, and it didn't feel like I was forcing it, it felt natural almost like they really were greeting me. I didn't expect to feel that connected to something so small, but it reminded me that even the tiniest parts of nature can feel alive if you slow down and pay attention. If I had a chance to do it again, I'd love to add more to it, maybe the flowers and the ducks a little story together, just to see where my imagination would take me. Wilson talks aabout approaching nature with curiousity and wonder instead of fear, and that make sense here. I wasn't scared of being wrong or looking strange, I just let myself play. I think children would enjoy this too. If they can give voices and stories to nature, it could help them feel like they're in a relationship with it, not just looking at it from the outside.

# data[].attributes.body
Me: Let's find a spot and sit quietly for a minute, what can you hear?

Child 1: I hear the wind, like whooosh

Child 2: I hear a bird chirping like they're talking

Child 3: I hear footsteps

-------------------------

Me: Can anyone copy those sounds?

Everyone: Whistle, stomping with hands, and rustling hands like leaves

-------------------------

Child 1: Can I make a new sound, clap clap clap

Child 2: hums softly like a buzzing bee

Child 3: Tap tap tap, tapping the tree sticks on the ground

--------------------------

Me: Wow! now we made a whole soundscape! what do you guys think?

Child 3: The birds sound was calm

Child 1: The clapping somehow makes me happy

Child 2: The wind sounds made me curious, like how can a wind sounds differently.

# data[].attributes.body
Learning Focus- Creating stories with Nature

Step 1- Take children outside and invite them to choose a natural object (flowers, trees, rock, duck)

Step 2- Ask " If this could talk, what would it say?"

Step 3- Encourage children to create short dialogues or role-play scenes (flowers waving, birds talking)

Step 4- Share stories together as a group "performance"

Accessibility:

For children with limited hearing- use gestures, role play and visual expression

For low vision- use tactile object

(leaves, bark, flowers) as characters in the story.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA). (2022). Belonging, being & becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia – V2.0. https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-01/EYLF-2022-V2.0.pdf

2. Dance Teaching Ideas. (n.d.). Creative dance movement for toddlers. Retrieved September 13, 2025, from https://danceteachingideas.com/creative-dance-movement-for-toddlers/

3. Edwards, C., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. (Eds.). (2011). The hundred languages of children : The reggio emilia experience in transformation. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/detail.action?docID=820317#

4. The Elizabeth Foundation for Preschool Deaf Children. (n.d.). Music matters. Retrieved September 13, 2025, from https://elizabeth-foundation.org/services/foundations-for-communication/music-matters/

5. Wilson, R, 2007, Children, creative play, and the natural environment, in R. Wilson (edn) Nature and Young Children : Encouraging Creative Play and Learning in Natural Environments, Routledge. Ch 1, pp 1-18.

6. Wilson, R. (2018). Nature and young children: Encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/reader/read-online/5096b0f2-e978-444f-80b2-806bd7e3e4a4/book/epub?context=ubx

7. [YouTube Video]. (n.d.). [Title of the video] [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPnXbk1_j5U

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Log in

Log in once for access to

multiple VU systems

Student or Staff ID

Password

Problems logging in?

FAQ

Login assistant

Please wait while we are connecting.