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This Padlet documents my reflections on planning and implementing short teaching sessions inspired by my On Country visit to Wyndham Park. Using sound, movement, and imagination, I explored how my 19 month old daughter can connect with nature through the EYLF framework.

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During these nature-inspired sound and movement experiences, my daughter showed curiosity and joy as she shook, tapped, and moved to the rhythms. Her responses reminded me how even very young child can connect deeply with natural elements through sensory play. As an educator, I learned the value of slowing down, noticing nature’s sounds, and transforming them into meaningful opportunities for belonging, creativity, and early communication (Wilson, 2007).

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Activity 1: Sound/Music :-   “River Rhythm Shakers”

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Activity 1: Sound/Music :-   “River Rhythm Shakers”

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Inspiration:
At Wyndham Park, the flowing river and rustling leaves inspired this activity, where children explore natural rhythms through sound.

Materials:

Small shakers using homemade instruments e.g., rice in a sealed bottle.

utensils at home , and spoons

beats and claps

tapping

Description:
Encourage the child to shake the instrument slowly like a calm river, then faster like rushing water. Add gentle arm movements or swaying to mimic flowing water, exploring tempo, rhythm, and cause-effect through sound.

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IFFERENT MATERIALS AROUND THE HOUSE FOR MAKING MUSIC AND SOUNDS

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She responded enthusiastically to the shakers, experimenting with speed and volume. This confirmed Wilson’s (2007) idea that natural environments inspire creative play, showing me that simple instruments and sensory experiences can meaningfully engage toddlers.

As per EYLF, it connects to Outcome 1 that focuses on building identity and confidence through active exploration.

Outcome 3 that indicates about sensory awareness and motor development. Outcome 4 that encourages curiosity and problem-solving through rhythm. And Outcome 5 that fosters early communication and sound experimentation.

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Sound and Music :

What went as expected?
My daughter was curious and excited to shake the homemade shakers, exploring different sounds. She loved the tapping part. Her natural curiosity aligned well with the intended outcome of sensory exploration.

What did not go as expected?
She lost focus sooner than I anticipated and preferred banging the shaker on the ground rather than shaking it consistently.

What might you do different next time?
Next time, I will introduce a simple rhythm to guide the play and keep the her engaged for longer.

How might you use this growth in future practice?
I’ve learned to follow children’s interests rather than holding rigid expectations. I will incorporate more flexible, child friendly sound exploration in future sessions.

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Activity 2: Movement and dance : “Swaying Trees”

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Activity 2: Movement and dance : “Swaying Trees”

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Inspiration from Wyndham Park:
While visiting the park, the swaying trees and rustling leaves created a natural rhythm and movement. This inspired a dance activity where children can embody the gentle sway of trees and the motion of nature.

Age group: 1 year old

Materials:

Soft instrumental music (or natural sounds from Wyndham Park, e.g., wind, rustling leaves, bird calls)

Open indoor space or outdoor grassy area

Description of Activity:

Play calming music or recordings of wind through trees.

Invite the child to or sit as she is not yet walking and gently sway her arms from side to side like tree branches.

Encourage different variations:

Reaching arms up high like tall trees.

Waving hands gently like leaves fluttering.

Crawling or rolling like leaves falling to the ground.

End with a “resting tree” pose, sitting or lying down quietly, listening to the music fade.

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During this activity, I noticed how the simple act of swaying and reaching connected the child to the natural rhythms of Wyndham Park. It reinforced for me how movement can nurture belonging, creativity, and early body awareness in meaningful, playful ways.

The Swaying Trees activity allowed the child to embody rhythms of nature observed at Wyndham Park, fostering early body awareness and sensory connection. This aligns with EYLF Outcome 3: Wellbeing, as children explore physical movement for growth and regulation, and Outcome 2: Connectedness, as they develop relationships with place. Also, Wilson (2007) highlights how natural environments inspire creative play, and I saw this in action when my daughter expressed belonging and imagination through simple swaying motions.

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Movement/Dance – “Swaying Trees” Experience 2 : 

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Movement/Dance – “Swaying Trees” Experience 2 : 

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What went as expected?
She enjoyed the gentle swaying and reaching movements, showing engagement with the natural rhythm of the music and imitating the motion of trees.

What did not go as expected?
She preferred crawling and rolling on the floor rather than staying upright to sway. Her focus shifted more quickly than I anticipated.

What might you do different next time?
Next time, I would adapt the activity by incorporating crawling and rolling as “leaves falling” or “branches bending low,” so that the movements become part of the play. This would create more flexibility and sustain engagement.

This experience showed me the importance of embracing children’s interpretations of movement. Rather than seeing them as “off-task,” I can value their creativity and follow their lead, which aligns with EYLF Outcome 1: Identity and Outcome 3: Wellbeing. In future practice, I will design movement activities that are more open-ended, adaptable, and responsive to children’s unique ways of engaging with music, movement, and place.

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Activity 3 : Drama “Little Animals in the Park”

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Activity 3 : Drama “Little Animals in the Park”

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Inspiration:
During my visit to Wyndham Park, I noticed the presence of birds, dogs being walked, and rustling trees. These everyday natural encounters can inspire a simple drama activity for toddlers.

Materials:

Animal puppets or soft toys , bird, dog, butterfly, ducks

Recorded animal sounds

Open indoor space

Introduce an the toys and encourage the my daughter to copy movements and sounds, such as flapping arms, crawling like a dog, or waving hands like a butterfly. Transition gently between animals, allowing the child to explore role play through sound and movement.

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This activity engaged the child’s imagination and connection to nature, showing how drama can emerge through movement and sound. It reinforced Wilson’s (2007) view that natural experiences foster creative play, and reminded me to value role play as a key language of expression.

As per EYLF , it connects to Outcome 1, 2 and 3 where it builds sense of self through role play , Connects with nature by imitating animals and supports motor skills and wellbeing.

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What went as expected?
She was drawn to the puppets and eagerly copied simple animal movements like flapping wings and crawling, showing excitement and engagement in role play.

What did not go as expected?
She quickly shifted attention from one animal to another, spending less time imitating each than I thought. Her focus was shorter, and they preferred movement over sound-making.

What might you do different next time?
Next time, I would slow the pace by introducing fewer animals and allowing more time to explore one role. I might also incorporate familiar songs to strengthen the connection between sound, movement, and drama.

How might you use this growth in your future practice of early childhood education?
This reminded me that toddlers express drama in fleeting, physical ways, and that’s valuable. I will design drama activities that are flexible, child-led, and open-ended, encouraging imagination through small gestures and simple role play. This aligns with EYLF Outcomes 1 and 5 and reflects Gandini’s (2012) emphasis on honouring children’s “hundred languages” of expression.

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Gandini, L. (2012). The atelier: A conversation with Vea Vecchi. In 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.

Somerville, M. (2010). A place pedagogy for ‘global contemporaneity’. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 42(3), 326–344. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2008.00423.x

Wilson, R. (2007). Children, creative play, and the natural environment. In R. Wilson (Ed.), Nature and young children: Encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments (pp. 1–18). Routledge.

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Engaging with this unit has transformed my perspective of music, movement, and drama in early childhood. Initially, I saw these areas as “extra” activities, but through the readings and practical experiences I now view them as essential expressive languages. Wilson (2007) emphasises how the natural environment stimulates creative play, and I witnessed this during my On Country visit to Wyndham Park, where simple sounds and rhythms became the foundation of learning. Gandini (2012) and Vecchi (2012) deepened my understanding that children express themselves in “a hundred languages,” and music, movement, and drama are central among them.

Through the planned activities — shakers inspired by the river, swaying like trees, and role play as animals — I learned that toddlers engage with these languages in fleeting, sensory-rich ways. What matters most is creating open-ended, flexible experiences that follow children’s lead. This unit has shifted my practice: I now see music, movement, and drama not as structured lessons, but as vital pathways for identity, belonging, communication, and wellbeing within the EYLF framework.