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As you can see throughout my experimentations with the materials of clay, charcoal, paint, paper, music, and light, everything is connected to one another. Paper can be used to paint and draw on, clay can be used to paint, charcoal can be used to draw, paint assembles with other materials to create art, paper and charcoal can make sounds, paper can reflect light creating shadows and movement, paint and light create movement, clay, charcoal, and sometimes light relates back to the nature, these materials can be used to create music as well as the natural surroundings. Throughout the processes, i has demonstrated how exploring these material can connect us and children to the nature as everything in the nature can be used to create art that is meaningful and traces back to its natural sources.

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I noticed how they sky is always different depending of the time, sunlight and other surrounding like clouds and weather.  I explored this concept of effects of sunlight by observing the sky at different times in a day. In this photo, the sun was rising where the sunlight is more orange in colour and reflecting through the clouds spreading all over the sky. The beauty of the nature intrigued me as I wanted to explore more on how the sunlight effect the sky and our surroundings.

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Bailie, PE & Koons-Hubbard, C 2022, Partnering with Nature in Early Childhood : A Guide to Outdoor Experiences, Lewisville, NC.

Early Learning Ideas no date, Tearing Paper Activities: This Is How To Improve Fine Motor Skills, Early Learning Ideas, viewed 19 May 2023, <https://earlylearningideas.com/tearing-paper-activities/>.

Galuski, T & Bardsley, ME 2018, Open-Ended Art for Young Children, Redleaf Press, Saint Paul, MN.

Sutapa, P, Suharjana, JN & Bin Aman, MS 2021, 'Improving of FineMotor Skills Through Plasticine Playing and Clay in Early Childhood.', Improving of FineMotor Skills Through Plasticine Playing and Clay in Early Childhood, vol. 12, no. 7, pp. 2427-2436.

Ketchabaw, VP, Kind, S & Kocher, LM 2016, Encounters with Materials in Early Childhood Education, Taylor & Francis Group, New York, NY.

Ketchabaw, VP, Nxumalo, F, Kocher, L,  Elliot, E & Sanchez, A 2015, Journeys : Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Practices through Pedagogical Narration, University of Toronto Press Higher Education, Toronto.

Li, DK 2022, French physicists developed a bubble that didn't burst for more than a year, NBC news, viewed 19 May 2023, <https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/french-physicists-developed-bubble-didnt-burst-year-rcna13077/>.

Montessori Nature no date, Charcoal Drawing – Process Art For Preschool, Montessori Nature, viewed 19 May 2023, <https://www.montessorinature.com/charcoal-drawing-process-art-for-kids/>.

Oxford Learning 2017, Tips & Activities To Improve Your Child’s Active Listening Skills, Oxford Learning, viewed 19 May 2023, <https://www.oxfordlearning.com/improve-active-listening-skills/>.

Pransky, J & Wolf J 2017, Deep Listening : A Healing Practice to Calm Your Body, Clear Your Mind, and Open Your Heart, eReader version, accessed 18 May 2023 from ebscohost.com.

Rucci, B 2019, CLAY 101: CLAY EXPLORATION WITH YOUNG CHILDREN, Artbarblog, viewed 19 May 2023, <https://www.artbarblog.com/clay-101-clay-exploration-with-young-children/>.

Thornton, L & Brunton, P 2010, ‘Exploring light and dark with early years’, Teaching Expertise, Wordpress, viewed 18 May 2023,<https://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles /exploring-light-and-dark-with-early-years/#:~:text=Playing %20with%20light%20and%20dark%20creates%20magical%20experiences%20that%20both,Dowling%20terms%20’gratuitous%20fear>.

Ungunmerr, MS 1988, Dadirri Inner Deep Listening and Quiet Still Awareness, Marriam-Rose Foundation, viewed 19 May 2023, <https://www.miriamrosefoundation.org.au/dadirri/>.

Whitehouse, P no date, Painting patterns using nature, Mother Natured, Viewed 19 May 2023, <https://mothernatured.com/nature-crafts/painting-patterns-using-nature//>.

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I experimented with charcoal for the first time as I have seen this material provided in my arts class before but had always been intimidated. I grabbed a charcoal stick and started drawing it creating a continuous line on a recycled paper to test out the material. I soon realised the uniqueness of this material as it is more challenging where it is brittle making it difficult to control the outcomes and the lines are relatively much larger than lines created by pencils. Another unique quality of this material was the lines it created, it was not subtle but textured.

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I explored the sounds of plastic and metallic caps hitting each other and the cup tray that I placed the caps in as I was shaking the tray. The metallic cap created a high-pitched sound as it crashed onto the other objects while the plastic caps has a cracky and looser sound. I started to wonder what kind of sounds nature can create differently from human-made materials as I decided to explore the nature sounds.

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I explored paint assemblage using different paint colours and tools to transfer the paint onto the paper. During the experiment, I was intrigued by the combination of nature as tools and paint. In this video, I used a brush to paint on the tree branch I placed on the paper, then dragged the branch across the paper spread the paint around. The paint left the prints of the tree leaves and branches on the paper along with blue and orange that I chose as they are complimentary colours to reflect my mood at the time I was painting: calm, curious, and eager.

The use of natural surroundings, the tree branches, in the paint assemblage brought me closer to the nature and my surroundings, it has widen my perspective about painting as I did not expect these things could be used as the painting tools. The tree branches created totally different textures and strokes of the paint from the conventional brushes.

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The final product is a mixture of various colours, strokes, lines, and splatter. I was painting as I let my feelings and curiosity lead how I painted and experimented with the materials instead of focusing on the result or final product. The final piece is totally abstract. I started exploring with the yellow paint first using the traditional tool which was a brush as to explore my curiosity and energy as I was still in my comfort zone, then I progressed to use other new tools including a dropper and tree branches as I started feeling more comfortable. I especially enjoyed experimenting with the tree branches as they gave different textures and result, as I touched and grabbed on to the tree branches that were covered in paint, it reminds me of the nature, the park, the trees in the park through seasonal changes and the animals living in/on the trees.

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I started experimenting with the clay by seeing the reaction of clay to different amounts of water. The first stripe on the left is dry clay as it holds the shape better and darker in colour, I put a little bit of water on the one in the middle as the clay has become lighter in colour and softer, and the last stripe is very light and fluid as it does not hold the shape well, it moves around and spreads easily.

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I observed again in the same late morning as the light has dimmed down from the morning, the sky has become darker and a but foggy

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My concept throughout the experimentation and exploration with materials including clay, charcoal, paint, light, paper, and music is that they allow the children to connect to the nature as clay, charcoal, paper, and sunlight come from natural sources while I utilise natural materials as mediums to paint and sounds of nature as music. I will explore each material by investigating its qualities, abilities and possibilities without predictable final outcomes but instead leading myself by my curiosity to test the materials limitations and capabilities. Understanding materials is important, the more we understand, the better we can implement them to help children's learning and development. The opportunity to explore and experiment with the material freely allows me to use my creativity and imagination to lead the art reflecting my thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

Firstly, I will explore clay with a use of water. Then, I will explore charcoal using it to draw based on my emotions. Next, I will experiment with paint through different techniques using natural surroundings like tree branches to help transfer the paint onto paper. I will explore paper as how it creates sounds, movement, and shadows, and explore music through listening to the sounds of nature around me. Lastly, I will explore light from a natural source 'the sun'.

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I have used paper throughout my exploration of other material: clay, charcoal, and paint. However, in my exploration of paper, I challenged my thinking as paper is traditionally used to to paint and to draw on. In this, I tested the paper's properties as how they are and what they are capable of by itself instead of being used as a medium. I scrunch the paper piece creating sounds of the paper rubbing onto my hand and the surface rubbing together. I noticed the lights ahead of me create shadows of the paper below my hand. I then moved the paper around to look at it shadow from different angles reflecting different shapes and sizes of the paper.

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After, I cut papers using a pair of scissors creating a different sound than before. The papers have been modified as they tore apart appearing rips as the scissors cut through them.

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I then used my hands to tear the papers apart. They changed the size turning into smaller pieces revealing different movements as I tore through the paper. The shapes and shadows appeared differently.

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Paper is a highly flexible material, it can be drawn on, cut through, torn apart, and folded. Paper comes from a natural source 'trees' where different cultures use different method to create paper throughout the history.  Paper is full of movements, new becomings and emergences (Ketchabaw et al. 2016 p. 31). As I explored the paper, I realised how light weight and flexible it is, it created movement as I modified and played with it.  Experimenting with paper reminds me of my hometown and my culture since in my hometown, we make paper by hands using a cultural tree as well as other natural materials like leaves and flowers to decorate the paper which connects us to the nature on a deeper and meaningful level. This paper can be used not only to write, draw or paint on, but also to create other new objects such as lanterns and umbrellas. This has become our tradition throughout the long history.

Paper acts with water, children's' bodies, the walls, and the floors; it moves, creates motions and rhythms; it fades over time; it changes with humidity (Ketchabaw et al. 2016 p. 35). In early childhood education, paper is not just used to draw on, it can be used for children to explore movement and connect to the nature. Paper come from trees, contacting with paper brings children awareness of the trees, the nature, and how nature is important to our lives.

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I explored the clay using different tools as the medium to transfer it onto the paper. The clay spread easily with water using the paint brush to paint on the paper creating different lines and strokes of light brown colour. I then tried using a wood stick to scoop up the clay and spread on the paper creating different strokes and lines than before as the tool is smaller in size, the clay spread unevenly with some line prints of the stick giving a different result. Lastly, I experimented with a wood knife to spread the clay on the paper as if I was spreading butter on the bread, the knife was able to scoop up more clay than the other tools as the result is much darker in colour.

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I observed the sky again when it was past sunset, the sky was completely dark revealing the man-made light sources as I could see some star across the dark sky.

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Activity: Paper Tearing and Pasting

Material: Colourful papers, cardboard, glue

Plan:
- I will set up a table featuring colourful and different textured papers.
- I will invite children to join the table as ask them to explore papers the ways they would like. They can feel, smell, and tear them. This is to allow them to explore and understand the materials better.
- After that, I will ask if they would like to create an art piece using the papers they have torn by pasting them onto a paper creating anything they want using their ideas and imagination.

Throughout the activity, open-ended questions can be implemented to challenge their critical thinking. The questions can be 'Where does paper come form?', 'How is paper made?', 'What are you making?'. We can introduce the knowledge about how paper is made by showing them a documentary video later to deepen their understanding on the material. We as early childhood teachers know that tearing and pasting paper can improve fine motor skills in children, but it is beyond jus that; it connects them to the nature where the material comes from.

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I started drawing based on my feelings as I was feeling anxious at the time I was exploring this material, I wanted to express my anxiety through the messy lines the charcoal stick created. I let my feelings lead the way the charcoal drew on the paper. The raspy sound of it was soothing, it calmed me down as I slowed down my drawing to listen to the sound of the charcoal rubbing on the paper.

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Understanding art is an important process that is often ignored in an early childhood setting, we need to understand the materials and what they can do before we can plan activities for children; open-ended art provides endless opportunities for the children to encounter and experiment with materials allowing emergent experiences without being limited to the final products and expectations we put on the children to achieve (Galuski and Bardsley 2018 p. 21). I explored paint through the natural medium for the first time in this experimentation as the tree branches could create unique different traces of the paint on the paper leaving the prints of the leaves and small branches. Paint enables human and non-human to connect as we explore the different materials and tools through paint, we form a relationship with surface we paint on (Ketchabaw et al. 2016 p. 53). As I touched the paint holding the tree branches, I could feel the connection between me, the nature, and the paint assembling together to create movements. I never thought about how natural materials around us could be use as mediums to paint and tell a story through art. Observing what interests children and being eager to let children explore with new unfamiliar materials is important for children's development as it emerges new learning experiences for the children. Using natural surroundings to paint allows children to be creative and connect to their natural surroundings and place.

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Dadirri or deep listening is the practice of Ngangikurungkurr people where we slow down and listen attentively to the nature, our surroundings and environment, pay close attention to deep listening, quietness and still awareness; as we slow down and listen, we connect to the nature and our surroundings (Ungunmerr 1988). I practiced deep listening as I went to the park near my house, I live in CBD so I was often too distracted by the sounds of constructions, people, traffics, and cars to hear or pay attention to the other natural surroundings around my area. Through this experiment, I put my focus on really listening to everything that was going on around me. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the surroundings around me, I could hear the sounds of the traffic nearby the park but as I listened more closely, I moved my focus to the sounds of nature. I could hear the birds chirping, the leaves rustling and blowing in the wind, the ducks quacking, groaning, and barking as they swam through the pawn creating waves of water that had unique and soothing sounds. I felt reconnected to the nature after living in the busy capitalist world for a long time, it brought me closer to the place I live in, the land I stand on, and see value in it.

From this exploration, I discovered that anything can create music and any sounds can be used in music. Nature is a great source of music to provide soothing and peaceful experiences to the listeners as we reconnect to the nature and develop care and respect for our natural surroundings.

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Ketchabaw et al. (2016) challenged the idea of clay ecologies in early  childhood education as clay represent more than just how children can play with it to develop their sensory skills, clay has a hidden more meaningful message to it as the world is moving towards capitalism, clay is found in natural places and can reconnect children to the nature in the capitalist driven world. Play dough and modelling clay are more common materials used in early childhood setting in this day and age as they are more accessible and come in different colours, they can be seen as the results of capitalism. Although these materials offer similar properties to clay and even easier to modify, mould, and sculpt, clay offers something special that cannot be replaced by these products. Clay comes from natural resources as it is made from minerals, plants and animals that break down and form over time, it has a long history where it has been used in different cultures for different purposes over centuries while Play dough and modelling clay are artificial.  Introducing clay in an early childhood setting is important as it allows children to encounter natural materials that can be found in the nature; it connects them to the nature, place, and land, exploring the material in the context of ecology and art. Clay has an earthy scent that can remind children of natural surroundings. As we use clay, we can introduce children to other significant knowledge such as how clay is made, what cultures have used clay through out the historical times and what they used them for as to explain why clay is important to different cultures allowing them to understand and respect other cultures.

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Materials like charcoal and such cannot be anticipated or predicted what i can do or it is for until we allow time and space for children to encounter, to explore what it is and what it can do that we did not expect or know beforehand (Ketchabaw et al. 2016 p. 43). I started exploring this material without preexisting knowledge of how it could be used or what results it could provide, instead I kept drawing creating different lines, feeling the texture of the material, and listening to the sounds it created, only to realise the differences of charcoal drawing and pencil drawing. In the early childhood setting, this method be utilised as we let children encounter natural loose parts/materials and test what they can do by themselves without setting expectations such as charcoal is for drawing or charcoal is only used for certain purposes, but instead let them discover what the materials are capable of.  Opening to experimentation allows new perceptions and understandings, children will develop their own understanding of the materials' capacities and how they react to each other leading to knowing the possibilities, power, and consequences of the material as they explore (Ketchabaw et al. 2016 p. 49).

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The sun is a natural source of light that allows us to be able to see and things to become visible to our eyes during the day time, it can affect how we see our surroundings depending on the level of light and brightness. I have learnt the importance of this natural light in our daily life as I explored through this concept. Playing with light can enhance children's natural curiosity and enable them to appreciate the awe and wonder of the world around them, allowing them to use and develop their thinking skills (Thornton and Brunton 2010). In the early childhood setting, it is important that we utilise this natural light to deliver and encourage children's learning as there are many curiosity arising  and emergent learning from observing and playing with the natural light including where the light is from, how light travels, weather, shapes, shadows, and movements occurred from the shadows. The movements of our natural surroundings such as trees, leaves, and us humans are reflected through the shadows created by light. Children can learn to connect to the nature and understand the movements, shapes, and outlines of these natural things.

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Activity: Nature Paint

Materials: papers, paint colours, tree branches, leaves, pine cones, and rocks

Plan:
- Set up a table with different paint colours and other natural materials
- Allow children to explore with the paint and materials freely as they can use tree branches, leaves, pine cones, and rocks to dip into paint and dap into the papers or create motions as they will observe the different shapes and textures of the natural materials.

This activity will be conducted without expecting a particular final product as they can paint whatever they would like based on their imaginations while experimenting with the natural materials as medium to transfer paint onto the papers. They will start recognising shapes, textures, and the feels of each natural materials brining them closer to the nature. The use of natural surroundings allows them to extend their creativity and imagination, as they paint, they will observe the materials thinking critically what they are and where they come from reminding them of the nature. In early childhood education, we value  assemblages of every elements that come together to create the movements, the art, and the learning such as paint-easel-child-brush-educator assemblages, how they are and the process of it instead of following the instructions and outcomes (Ketchabaw et al. 2016 p. 56). In this activity, children will get to explore the paint and natural material freely. They will form a relationship with surfaces of the materials and the paper as paint transfers onto them.

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After the practice, I opened up my eyes to start observing that surroundings that were the sources those sounds I heard originated from. I started connecting the sounds to the visual representations and admired the beauty of nature through my senses: hearing, feeling, and seeing.

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Activity: Clay Exploration

Materials: natural clay, straws, pom poms, beads, cardboard pieces, bowls, scissors, water, and tree branches

Plan:
- I will set up a table with clay on the table in front of each seat with the other materials such as straws, pom poms, beads, cardboard pieces, and tree branches along with other tools to reform and manipulate the clay such as water, scissors and bowls in a welcoming initiative  setup.
- I will then invite children to sit on the chairs at the table if they wish and ask them to touch, feel and play with the clay without a use of the other materials first to allow them to explore the feel, texture, and scent of the clay.
- After that, I will invite them to explore the clay using different materials and tools to see how they modify and manipulate the clay, how well the clay holds its shape, how  the clay react, encounter, and connect with the other materials.

Throughout the implementation, I will allow children to explore freely with the clay without restricting an outcome they need to achieve. The ecologies of clay are emergent as we cannot predict children's responses to clay; clay allows children to explore movements but it is not predictable, sometimes it holds a shape, sometimes it flows with the movements (Ketchabaw et al. 2016 p. 65). Moreover, exploring clay, children are required to use different muscles creating different motions as it allows them to improve their fine motor skills (Sutapa et al. 2021 p. 2429). After they explore with the clay, i will explain how clay occurs in the nature, the importance and use of clay in different cultures around the world, and how clay enables us to connect to the nature. This will allow them to learn other topics beyond developing sensory and fine motor skills including science, social studies, and to care for nature.

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Activity: Charcoal Drawing

Materials: charcoal sticks,  an outdoor area, papers, leaves, and trees

Plan:
- I will set up an area outdoor and provide  charcoal sticks for children to explore freely on different surfaces.
- I will initiate the activity by handing the children charcoal stick and ask them to touch and feel it. I then will observe the children's responses as I allow them to explore freely with the charcoal.
- I will not instruct them what to do or tell them to draw but I will instead create a learning rich environment providing different materials they can experiment with the charcoal sticks to explore its properties and emerge the learning by themselves. The wall, ground, trees, papers, and leaves have different textures that will create different outcomes as charcoal encounters them.

A charcoal is not just a compressed wood, it tells a story,  an  event,  a  happening,  a  doing (Ketchabaw et al. 2016 p. 34). Children will naturally be curious about what charcoal is and where it comes from, we can extend their interest and knowledge by educating them these topics as they experiment with the charcoal. The traces of charcoal on our clothes, our hands is full of memories, we carry the traces of the wood, the forest, and the fire (Ketchabaw et al. 2016 p. 34). As we let the children explore charcoal, we allow them to reconnect to the nature through the use of natural materials; the feel, the smell, and the texture.

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I developed more sense of respect and empathy for the nature and see its value to our lives as I explored in this activity, I used different senses to listen closely to the nature more than just hearing the sounds created as I connected the sounds to my visions and the scents. The natural world is an enriched environment that stimulate brain development in children as they integrate multiple senses and investigation skills to explore the natural surroundings (Bailie and Koons-Hubbard 2022 p. 12). As children are generally curious about the nature and surroundings, the use of music can help them explore and reconnect to the natural world. We as ECTs should not limit children's development as to only listen to human-made music in the classroom only to explore our expected learning outcomes. Letting children explore the sounds of nature helps them develop awareness and empathy for others and a deeper sense of self (Bailie and Koons-Hubbard 2022 p. 13). The sounds of nature can result in emergent learning as we cannot expect what children will hear, what their take on what they hear will be, and every child will have a different experience even though they are listening to the same surroundings in the same place; they will shift their listening to investigate their interests using their own imagination.

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Activity: Rainbow Bubbles

Materials: an outdoor area, bubble wand and liquid.

Plan:
- I will blow bubbles and let children play with them catching and popping them.
- I will then ask them to observe the bubbles closely, however I will not tell them to focus on the rainbow colours reflecting on the bubbles, but instead let them observe and investigate what they can notice by themselves.
- After the play, we will sit down in a group. I will ask open-ended questions including what did you notice about the bubbles? to challenge their critical thinking and investigation skills. If the children noticed the rainbow spectrum, we can ask further questions such as what colours did you see on the bubbles? why do you think that happened?

Diffraction in early childhood education disruptions the concept of working towards a fixed answer or predicted, we learn to reflect as we encounter and explore the materials allowing emergent experiences instead (Ketchabaw et al. 2015 p. 197). Providing them an opportunity to learn by themselves as we support can emerge new learning and experiences without restricting the right answer or outcome which put limitations on their development. As you can see in this activity, bubbles encounter sunlight and reflect rainbow spectrums, the play concerning bubbles initially has become a science experiment where we can introduce how light works to diffract and create different colours of a rainbow. The use of natural light enables them to be exploring and playing in the nature and connect to the nature. The children will develop understanding on why the sun is an important light source to all the living things.

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Activity: Listen with Our Hearts

Materials: outside area with natural surrounding and living things.

Plan:
- Children will go on an excursion to a natural place such as a park.
- We will sit together as a group, close our eyes as I ask the children to be quiet and listen deeply to the sounds of our surroundings
- After, we will discuss that sounds we can hear.

This practice involves deep listening or Dadirri. Deep listening allows us to slow down our thoughts, fears, and anxiety as we listen to our inner voice rewires us, we will be able to see a bigger picture of things and respond better our difficult circumstances (Pransky and Wolf 2017). Children often hear sounds of the things around us without actually paying attention or listening closely to them. This activity will give them an opportunity to connect to the nature and other living things as they listen to everything around them closely with their focus on those sounds; it enables them to think critically, use their senses, and find a piece of mind in the era where everything is moving fast and capitalist. Therefore, they develop empathy and care for the nature.