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Music/Sound Session 4

Title: Playing with maracas and different color tissues papers.

Short Summary

After my short walk around the park, I notice the swishing sound of the wind through the tress leaves, and that makes a beautiful sound. I would like to recreate this sound as an activity that I can do with children at kindergarten to teach them about the object around us that we can use to make sounds.

Rationale/justification

In the assessment 2 experience I was walking through the park, hearing different sounds around me and feeling relax. “It’s through play that children learn about themselves and the world around them. It’s through play that they develop a sense of competence and make invaluable discoveries about their social, cultural, and physical environments.” (Wilson, R., 2018, p.2). According to the EYLF, they are happy, healthy, safe and connected to others.

Lesson steps

·      The educator gathers the children around in a circle and sit on the floor. This activity can be done inside or outside.

·      They then first talk to children about sounds that they can all make together with their body, such as clapping hands.

·      Then they provide different color tissues papers to the children and ask them to swish it around to hear the sound of the wind, and crisps paper.  Gather them back.

·      Then give them each a maraca to shake around.

Reflection

I notice that children really connect and had fun with the maracas and different color tissues papers that I provided them for. They like playing in group with the materials. It was a success. What I might do next time is to bring different materials such as tubes pipes, drums, xylophones, to make other sounds with them. I might use this growth in my future practice of early childhood education by writing about the child discovery and engagement to music and sound. Overall, my perspective of music has opened up and broadened up.

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Movement/Dance Session 5

Title: Stretching and learn body parts through a song

Short Summary

Being at the park, seeing people walking by, running, stretching their body, make me think of the

“Head, shoulders, knees and toes” song. It goes like:  head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes, head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes and eyes and ears and mouth and nose, head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. And that can be repeated multiple times and as much as needed.

Rationale/justification

This activity is great for making children do some exercise while learning about body parts words. Seeing people walking by, running, stretching their body at the park make me want to do this activity with the children. “Without listening, without being responsive to the ideas of others, there can be neither learning nor teaching.” (Gandini, L., 2012, p.312). According to the EYLF, they gradually learn to ‘read’ the feelings and behaviours of the others and respond appropriately.

Lesson steps

·      The educator gathers the children around in front of themself. This activity can be done inside or outside.

·      They start by asking them to all stand up, stretch their body, put hands up, put hands down, on their left, on their right.

·      Then they can sing or play the song “head, shoulders, knees and toes” and touch their body parts and the children can mimic their gestures.

·      Once they learn, they can do it together at the same time.

Reflection

The children like to dance and move through this song, mimicking me and do it faster make them giggles. This type of learning is great to encourage children to learn while having fun and stretching their body. I might use this growth in my future practice of early childhood education by writing about their body movement, how they can start to look, understand rhythm and copy what they are looking at. This reminds me of Music as a Language by Victor Wooten where it’s about learning how to talk with our own voice. As an educator, I am providing the learning and try to guide the child, but they are free to explore it as they want and be creative about it. Overall, my perspective of movement has change tremendously and I can use it to teach differnet things and incorporate in the learning.

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Drama Session 6

Title:  Acting out storybook

Short Summary

I was at the park, and after seeing some people reading and talking, having conversation. I thought it would be a great way to do acting a storyline with the children.

Rationale/justification

After seeing some people reading and talking, having conversation at the park, I had the idea to bring it back to kindergarten to teach it. This will give the child, acting experience, help with their imagination and conversation skill. How to listen and respond back to their peers. “High-level, complex pretend play can significantly facilitate children’s capacities for perspective taking, which can facilitate abstract thought” (The Importance of Pretend Play in Natural Settings, 2019). In the EYLF, this show curiosity and growing confidence in their identity as learner.

Lesson steps

·      The educator can gather around the children and act out their favorite storybook. The activity can be done indoor.

·      They can pretend to be a character from the book and act it out. Be the bear, dinosaur, cat, fairy, princess, anything that their mind wants to be.

·      The educator can divide them into small groups and when one groups act it out, the others are watching.

Reflection

The children did enjoy being the character of the book, however it was quite hard to keep the conversation flowing. Some children are quite good at remembering what happen, what to say, but others have a hear time keeping up. I think I can put different kids with different storylines, once they know a little better, to act together. I might use this growth in my future practice of early childhood education by writing about their memory and conversation skill. Overall, doing drama for the first time was quite challenging but I think if we continue it, they might be better.

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References:

Gandini, L. (2012). The atelier: A conversation with Vea Vecchi. 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&ppg=330

The Importance of Pretend Play in Natural Settings. (2019). Communityplaythings.com. https://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/the-importance-of-pretend-play-in-natural-settings?fbclid=IwY2xjawJmyv1leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHgyNjODevirhMbEpaPxDwS-IRDMTxsQsMFK2AbklnOEIq0cvQy4bRisgWkZm_aem_m_ugSm87MYuwtksE9XM94w

The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2025, from https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-01/EYLF-2022-V2.0.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawJm0g9leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHvN3THFPuDXVgONiN2JGafOA21m3EyvBE75IChs42cm2fJjn0aHW_o36i1dT_aem_gMN0T4YqgN7qF5CA7OyAVQ

Wilson, R. A. (2018). Nature and young children: Encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments (3rd ed.). Routledge.

https://go.openathens.net/redirector/vu.edu.au?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.taylorfrancis.com%2Fbooks%2Fmono%2F10.4324%2F9781315148533%2Fnature-young-children-ruth-wilson