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I went to the lake near my home, called Edwardes Lake Park, I was just out for a walk in my spare time, but as I walked, I felt like I had entered into a conversation with nature. I slowed down my steps there, and engaging with my surroundings through all my senses. I wrote this conversation into a song, and I'm sharing my entire reflection here.

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The ripples on the lake and the sunset's reflection brought me a sense of calm, and inspired thoughts about dance and movement.

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A funny looking conifer. Its branches swayed in the breeze, as if beckoning to me. Their rhythm provided inspiration for physical movements in my work.

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I recorded the birdsong, though perhaps not perfectly clear, yet it made me realise that nature itself is a song.

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After a short time in the park, I decided to compose a simple song about my experiences and reflections on the guitar, called Singing with Nature. I focused on the lake, trees and birds. The lyrics tell a story of imagining the birds singing with me, the trees beckoning me, inviting me to dance with them by the wild lake. I hoped the song would sound full of childlike wonder, like a children's song, and I felt children would enjoy this fun way of connecting with nature.

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C              G
Water’s dancing, shining bright,
Am            F
Birds are singing in the sky.
C                 G
Trees are whispering in the breeze,
Am          F
Calling softly, “play with me

C  G  Am  G              F
La-la-la, come sing with me,

C  G  Am  G             F

La-la-la, By the water wild and free.

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That day at the lake, my main impression was one of being invited. It wasn't me that observing nature, but it was like actively engaging with me. And as I sit by the water's edge, I felt both peaceful and full of fun. I realised that the natural environment can create a strong connection with us through sound and stimulating us to develop new ways of thinking. Wilson (2018) also said: ‘The natural environment is an ideal place for children to engage in creative play. Natural environments stimulate play, development, and learning in a special boundless way.’ (p.4) At the same time, I believe that when children find themselves in such a similar environment, they may use their surroundings to learn and create their own play experiences. Just like when my ears were awakened, I discovered the sound around me were like a symphony. birdsong in the treble, the sound of water in the middle register, and so on. This natural directly gave me inspiration for writing songs. Though the melodies are simple, they are actually my vocal response to these sounds.

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According to Delafield-Butt and Trevarthen (2015, as cited in Dance Teaching Ideas, 2020), the rhythmic and movement-based play of young children lays the groundwork for acquiring complex skills later in life. The essence of this “creative dance play” lies in children constructing their understanding of the world through embodied exploration. I also have experienced this. In the park, my body was not idle. When I felt the wind blow, my head would instinctively turn towards it; when I saw ripples on the water, I would observe their movement. While filming myself singing, when I reached the chorus, I closed my eyes and found myself swaying my head and body uncontrollably. It felt like I have returned to that lakeside. This is the most natural physical response. And This experience made me realise that dance need not be a set of structured movements; it can also be the involuntary, subtle movements when we feel the environment.

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Drama and Narrative Reflecting on my country visit, the entire experience was a simple story. I gave myself a small role: a friend invited by the sounds of nature. I became a little bird, hopping around happily by the lake, then saw a branch reaching out its hand, inviting me to play with it. It even sang along with me. The lyrics ‘Calling softly, play with me”’ which I wrote, refer to the invitation and its response, forming the core of the entire story. This was essentially the simplest form of pretend play, much like a child talking to their toys. Through this song, I engaged in a conversation with everything by the lake. As Wallin (2019) states: ‘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.’ My experience felt like this, where natural spaces allowed my imagination to roam freely. This also reminds me of Vygotsky's perspective, who argued that ‘pretence affords young children their greatest opportunity to become self-regulated and responsible’ (Brooker, Blaise & Edwards, 2014, p. 4). In my pretend play by the lake, I was both freely creating and ‘conversing’ with the environment.

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Reflections on the Future of Education

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Reflections on the Future of Education

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I found myself reflected a lot. It seems we are always in such a hurry to organise children for activities with clear objectives, forgetting to allow time for them simply to listen, observe and feel. We should take children out into nature more often, rather than keeping them indoors surrounded by plastic toys.

In future teaching, I could invite children to respond to a flower or tree they see in any way they choose, like drawing, dancing, making a gesture, or making a sound. There are no correct answers; it's simply about expressing personal feelings. I would also provide loose parts – stones, branches, leaves, and other natural materials. Not only can these become anything but also using them allows children's imaginations to be unlimited.