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These experiences overall relate to my assessment 2 through the topic of imaginary play and 'the fairy garden' watching children utilize their imagination through music movement and dance.
Referencing:
I reference this to the reading of lets play outside, and how the importance of imaginary play is so relevant to children

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. (lets play outside)

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Overall there were some components I struggled with on this unit, connecting elements with place were one of them.
Initially my first thought was how do you connect movement with a place? but delving into some of the content made some of this a little clearer for me.
Children will connect a certain experience with a place, dancing in leaves in a park for instance, this can carry on into other experiences in life.
I thoroughly enjoyed some of the videos throughout the content and found them very engaging, from some of these videos I feel I have more of an understanding of indigenous aspects of music and movement.
I also feel I have a better understanding of the connections children can make with music movement and drama, children can incorporate this into so many different activities throughout a learning journey.

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Reflection - photos from assessment 2 - how could a child and or educator utilize this space for music and movement?

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Reflection - photos from assessment 2 - how could a child and or educator utilize this space for music and movement?

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Reflection - photos from assessment 2 - how could a child and or educator utilize this space for music and movement?

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Reflection - photos from assessment 2 - how could a child and or educator utilize this space for music and movement?

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Drama

I used the theory of a fairy garden as my connection to assessment 2 and set out some fairy themed dress ups for the children outside, I left this experience for the children to make their own, intrigued on how they would interpret the experience, watched and took notes.

Most children used them and pretended to be Elsa from frozen, some danced around the yard using their imaginations and others seemed to get bored quickly but kept wearing the costumes while doing other things.

This connects to my assessment two through imagination and pretending to be a fairy in the garden.

Reflection:

I believe this experience went okay, the children took some interest but the intent changed to another experience from the children’s choice. I feel dress ups are always a good ongoing experience to set out but may need more provocations for children to hold continued interest.

References:

I refer back to a padlet from session 3 in regards to childhood memories and how we used dramatic play

https://victoriauniversityau.padlet.org/e9401044/when-i-was-a-young-child-katarina-s-group-r0emnrbzpjy6tmb7

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For You Grandpa, Happy 60th Birthday "Inanay" by Tiddas

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Movement / Dance activity

As apart of my movement and dance activity I tried implementing indigenous culture into a group time, as my assessment 2 was based on a fairy garden and imaginative play this activity links to that through imagination.

I sat the 4 year old kinder children down for their group time and asked them to sit in a circle, I introduced them to the inanay song and movements. I explained to them the origin of the song and that it was based on a goanna. We sang it a few times and I asked them to use their imagination through the song like what would happen when a goanna was near them and we would shoo them away.

I believe this experience went well, the children were engaged through the song and asked to do it again!

Reference

I refer back to the video and experience we did on a Saturday class of the Tiddas Inanay song and dance

https://youtu.be/1xGWMFBfKi8

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Sound / music activity:

I asked some of the toddler children if they would like to join in on a music game and asked them to gather their favourite musical instrument from the basket collection. Some children decided to use maracas, some picked tambourines, some chose xylophones and some clappers.

We sat in a circle outside and I asked the children to show me how they like to use their instruments and the children excitedly made as much noise as the could, I then explained to them we were going on an adventure around the yard to hunt for fairies and we were going to use our musical instruments along the way for singing and music making.

We ventured around the yard pretending to look for fairies, we sang and chanted ‘were going on a fairy hunt’ similar to the bear hunt tune and used the musical instruments as we went. We searched through the thick wavy grass, we splashed through the river and continued through the actions of the book. We got the cave and used our imaginations to find the fairy and celebrate! 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. (lets play outside)

This connects to my assessment two as the artifact for that was imaginatory play with a fairy garden theme. I believe this experience went very well, the children held a lot of interest, used their imagination and showed enthusiasm throughout the play.

Reference:

I refer back to the reading of lets play outside, the importance of pretend play

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. (lets play outside)

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Week 3 – Session 8 – Connecting with place, Playing with all languages combined

I felt very awkward doing the group percussion experience! We had more of a discussion over types of percussion songs that can be used with children.

I thoroughly enjoyed the video of Foley art, learn how to create! The imagination of the people who create sounds in movies was very interesting!

Reflecting on this unit I made me understand how much engaging children with sound can bring so much more to an experience!
My future ECE influence would be impacted by this by exploring and experiencing with children percussion and sounds in small and large group activities.

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Week 4 – Session 7 – Connecting with place – playing with drama

The reading of lets play outside felt very repetative from our experience of playwork.

Imaginary friends reading: loved this aspect of play, its not something I think of often and really interests me!

Life is drama video:

Felt very confused with the video upon first watching, gorillas and ball passing???  but it made sense after discussing.

Make believe play and self regulation, found this very interesting! Especially the socio-economic regulation and the differences with boys and girls.
My future ECE influence would be impacted by this by exploring more on the topic of imaginary friends! I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of the content.

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Week 3 – Session 6 – Connecting with place – playing with movement

Going through this content I found the video of the lake cowal bird dance interesting, the backstory of the dance shows how much the traditional owners connected to their land.
My future ECE influence would be impacted by this by exploring different indigenous dances that connect to our local land.

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Week 3 – Session 5 – Connecting with place- playing with music, movement and drama

For this content I thoroughly enjoyed the group activity of the 8 sensory system, I feel I have more of an understanding of the vestibular system. I have a feeling of excitement for our assessment 2 and what pace I will explore.

My future ECE influence would be impacted by exploring how I can set out experiences that benefit the children's sensory systems.

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Week 2 – Session 4 – Connecting with place – playing with music

I thoroughly enjoyed the Inanay Tiddas song, researching its meaning made me feel sad for the yorta yorta people as most of their language has been lost over the years.

Reflecting on this content I feel I as an educator don’t implement enough singing in the classroom, small activities like group time are a great starting point!
My future ECE influence would be impacted by this by exploring different indigenous song and dance experiences and sharing this with the children.

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Week 2 – session 3 – What is Drama?

After going through the content of Drama tonight I thought I had a great self representation of what drama was, I now also understand it has a lot more elements of ‘play’

I remember using dramatic play as a child myself in the school yard playing ‘mums and dads’ we would use leaves, sticks and dirt to make houses. I look back on this now and think how inventive this was!

So on reflection I believe adding to my meaning of drama should include creativeness.
My future ECE influence would be impacted by this by providing children the opportunity to express their dramatic creativeness and extending on that.

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Week 1 – session 2 – What is movement as a temporal art?

Upon completing this weeks content I reflect mostly on the video of mutton bird and its origin story, how the colonization of Australia was so brutal for some people.

I thoroughly believe that addressing culturalism within educating children properly about aboriginal culture needs to have the proper guidance, sourcing a local elder to help with this would be a great start.

On looking back through this unit I believe movement as a temporal art can be portrayed in so many ways, movement is a personal thing that can be suggested by great storytelling.
My future ECE influence would be impacted by this by reflecting with children on how they have interests in different types of movement.

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Week 1 – session 1 – what is music?

On reflection of this weeks content I examine what my padlet entry is for the question what is your definition of music?

My padlet entry: Music is a collaboration of sounds and melody from an artist expressing themselves.

Looking back on this at the end of the content I still believe this is relevant, but I now understand it has more language elements and connections to storytelling between people, places and feelings
My future ECE influence would be impacted by this by reflecting on how I portray these connections to the children in different ways.