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I recognise and acknowledge the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation as the traditional owners of this land of Arthurs Seat and pay respects to their ancestors past present and emerging.  I thank the Bunurong people for being the long time custodians of this country and I would like to honor them by continuing to care for this country’s ;and, its waters, air, trees, rocks, plants, animals, food, medicines, minerals, stories and special places.

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The air is cold, crisp and clean as the sun comes out from the rain clouds, dear old Treebeard the big eucalyptus tree stretches out his branches in the bright sunlight so his leaves which shone white, could make shade for some of his bird friends, the red rosellas, and white cockatoos. Treebeard started to itch and scratch as the insects and bugs were crawling up around his tree trunk and branches, which felt sharp, rough and bumpy. In and out and in and out of all the in Treebeards holes and cracks in his branches crawling their way back home to their nests.  Luey the fly and his friends are buzzing around trying to find where to sit next while the rain had stopped they buzzed here, they buzzed there, they buzz buzz everywhere.

Some of the wet leaves were slippery as bugs crawled along them, Some were blowing and rustling in the wind.

Suddenly Treebeard heard the sounds of many wheels rushing towards him, the cracking and breaking of twigs and branches, and the rustling of leaves were getting louder and louder, faster and faster. Treebeard was afraid, the birds fluttered off quickly squawking as they flew away scared by the noise coming towards them. It was the giants riding on mountain bikes past Treebeard shouting and yelling. The wind blew stronger, as the ferns and other plants swayed from side to side as if to shoo the giants on their mountain bikes away.

Treebeard was feeling sad. Why are you so sad Treebeard asked Felicia the Fern as she brushed her fury leaves against Treebeards trunk?” I don’t want the giants to chop me up for firewood my log leg is rotten with lots of sharp edges, I’m rough to touch and full of holes cried Treebeard.  But look said Felicia the Fern, look closer at your log leg, I can see the colour green, amongst the wet soft fury moss. There’s green plants growing, there on your log leg. Not all is lost just wait you’ll see a tree will grow big and strong again just like you are today.  Treebeard was happy as can be and he continued to swaying and shine his leaves and branches in the bright sun no longer sad.

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Reflect on your experience:
My moving experience at the Arthurs Seat State Park Mountain Bike Trail allowed me to use all my senses to experience the natural world surrounding me.  I felt an inner peace that cane over me as the wind swept my face as if to say “All is well”.  Ariana Candell (Movement in the Wild: Nature as Dance Partner - the Earthbody Institute, 2017) suggests that our body is responding to its innate connection to the natural world.  These senses awakenings are a call for us to connect to the other than human life forms.  I began to think about children in Early Childhood and how they would see the natural world I was moving in.  I began to think about what they would imagine and how they would interact with the natural world.  What stories could they  create from what nature was trying to teach them.  I looked at the ginormous trees that surrounded me I thought of creating a story of Treebeard the enormous eucalyptus tree that beat the giants and continued to live in the deep forest.  This experience will influence my early childhood practice by having more outdoor nature play experiences with the children in our service.  The opportunity to have more bush walks in our local area.  Prior to these experiences I would share many Aboriginal stories about nature.  Phillips and Bunda considers storying as a way of enriching thought body and soul.  Gives a voice to the other than human life forms in nature, and strengthens relational meaning making (Slater, 2020).

Consider each language (sound, movement and drama) in unison and combination:
By exploring all of my senses, I began to interact with the natural environment by crawling on my hands and knees, smelling the wet leaves, hearing the tree branches and small twigs break as I crawled along I began to peel back some of the bark off a very large tree trunk and seeing the drama unfolding underneath of several different type of bugs all scattering away from the centre of the piece of bark I slowly pulled back. I reached out to touch the great tree trunk in front of me as I closed my eyes to hear the sounds of Laughing Kookaburra squawking away.  To feel the wind blowing on my face and in my hair and hear it in bursts of rushing wind as if it was singing to me with the birds “Calm down baby calm down”.  Which in turn made me dance for a minute or two as I felt so free and invigorated by the air and the sounds.  Clicking my fingers and singing the words and tune to the song made move my body more and dance with my feet as well.  In the current services I work at we enjoy singing songs with the children using our voices and we clap and dance to familiar songs that they know (Niland, 2009).  The children enjoy using musical instruments when we are learning Aboriginal songs that relate to the Aboriginal stories they are familiar with.

Consider your sensations- what you smell, see, hear, feel, taste, sense?
The feel and smell of the crisp, clean air as I walked into the forest.  The smell of fresh rain that had just fallen a few minutes prior, the sun coming out of the clouds and shining through the leaves which shone white that are way up high on the enormous eucalyptus trees that surrounded me.  The many different ants and bugs scurrying along the forest floor across my shoes and along the tree trunks and branches trying to find more food or get back to their nests before the rain returns.  Some ants crawled along my hands as I started touching and feeling the rough sharp bark with its many cracks. I could hear the fluttering of the wings of the crimson rosellas and the squawking of the laughing kookaburras.  I work one on one with a child that has autism and violent behaviours towards others.  He has a great interest in collecting bugs and insects but he also has a great love for the plants at our service and ensures that his peers take care of them.  When this child is fully engrossed in searching for bugs using a magnifying glass, bug catcher, other children invite themselves into the play with him, and so the exploration and natures teaching begins by the third teacher, nature (Lark Wallin, 2019).  This child’s does not show difficult and violent behaviours towards others while he is engrossed in nature play.

Consider your feelings- what did this experience make you feel at times and overall?
For me this was an exhilarating and an eye opening, learning experience .  It made me feel more connected to the other than human life forms in the natural world.  At first arrival I had an inner deep listening and tried to be still, being aware and waiting for nature to reveal itself (Dadirri -A Reflection by Miriam -Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann, n.d.). But as I began to crawl around to see what was at the base of the tree trunk, and move with the wind, I became more comfortable and open to my surroundings. Overall I have decided to do more forest experiences that involves sitting, listening and waiting for the nature to speak like it did today.  It is a skill that I feel needs to be practiced frequently in order to be fully appreciated.  At our service we practice sitting still when we reach our destination for our bush walk.  The children are very familiar with the natural place, but when they are interacting and playing in the space they notice something new within the space or something has moved or plants that maybe dying or changing colour.

Consider your thoughts- what did this experience make you think?  Memories from your childhood?  Thoughts for how children experience these languages through play in the natural world?
This experience reminded me of the importance of nature play for children the earlier the better.  Ruth Wilson, 2007 (Children, Creative Play, and the Natural Environment Children and Childhood, n.d.) identifies nature as universal, timeless, beautiful, alive with sounds, nourishes, heals and is real. Growing up climbing to the top branches of the peach trees in our backyard as a young child, I felt that I could fly away, the tree tops was were I would go to get away, a place where I could be free. In this experience I was able to connect again to nature, to dance and sing in nature like I once did as a child. It felt invigorating, uplifting and like there was no care in the world, just like I did when I was a child. Children who play in natural environments have the opportunity to hone their music, drama and movement languages. By not allowing our children to play, interact and learn with nature we as adults contribute to de-naturing our children. The use of their senses lessens, they will develop fears of the natural world, and have attention difficulties Wilson, R, 2007. As adults, we owe our children alot more than that in life. In our service our classroom teacher programs daily opportunities for children to engage in outdoor nature play as well as music, movement and dance activities. At the moment the children are enjoying learning their Aboriginal music and dance songs for their end of year Christmas concert,

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References

Children, creative play, and the natural environment Children and childhood. (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2023, from https://vucollaborate.vu.edu.au/content/enforced/1816406-ECE2008-1-2023-HWB-151670/Nature_and_Young_Children_Encouraging_Creative_Pla..._----_(Chpater_1_Children_creative_play_and_the_natural_environment)2.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=a8DD1GHojXEkihDbkasOVH3s7&ou=1868340

Dadirri -A Reflection By Miriam -Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann. (n.d.). https://www.dadirri.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Dadirri-Inner-Deep-Listening-M-R-Ungunmerr-Bauman-Refl1.pdf

Lark Wallin, M. (2019, June). The Importance of Pretend Play in Natural Settings. Www.communityplaythings.com. 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

Movement in the Wild: Nature as Dance Partner - The Earthbody Institute. (2017, March 26). https://www.theearthbodyinstitute.com/2017/03/movement-in-the-wild-nature-as-dance-partner/

Niland, A. (2009). The Power of Musical Play: The Value of Play-Based, Child-Centered Curriculum in Early Childhood Music Education. General Music Today, 23(1), 17–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1048371309335625

Slater, O. (2020). Storying: A Reflection on Entanglements with Indigenous Australian Methodology. Cambridge Educational Research E-Journal, 7, 9–17. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.58324

Wilson, R. (2007). Nature and Young Children. Routledge.

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