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Today I ran three short creative arts experiences in my backyard with three children aged 2.4–5 years. They all enjoyed their activities and had a lot of fun participating.

Lost Teddy Adventure (Drama): I hid a teddy in the bushes and drew a trail of flowers as a clue. The children followed it, and when they found Teddy, they all shouted, “Yes, we found it!” This activity encouraged imagination, problem-solving, teamwork, and a lot of excitement throughout the experience.

Bird Dance (Movement): After finding Teddy, we danced around pretending to be birds. We flapped our arms like wings, made bird sounds, and talked about different birds that normally visit our backyard. The children loved moving their bodies, copying each other, and expressing themselves freely.

Nature Echo (Music & Sensory Play): We walked around exploring bushes, flowers, and rocks. The children touched, smelled, and described textures—hard rocks, soft flowers, fragrant leaves—and made sounds inspired by what they found, like tapping rocks together or echoing each other’s noises. This encouraged listening, rhythm, and sensory awareness.

Overall, the activities helped the children connect with nature, explore their creativity, and work together, all while having a lot of fun.

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These activities were informed by my Assessment 2 Creative Response to Place at Footscray Park, where I explored sound, movement, and story as ways of connecting with Country. Just as I listened to wind, birds, and water, I wanted children to experience connection with their own environment through drama, movement, and music.

Lost Teddy Adventure (Drama): Supported imagination and emotional expression while encouraging collaboration. This reflects Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, where children learn through shared problem-solving, and EYLF Outcome 1 (children have a strong sense of identity), as they built confidence and celebrated their success together.

Bird Dance (Movement): Allowed children to explore shape, space, and energy through their bodies. This links to Laban’s movement analysis and EYLF Outcome 3 (children have a strong sense of wellbeing), as they expressed joy and connection through physical play. It also reflects the VEYLDF principle of play-based learning, as children extended the activity themselves.

Nature Echo (Music & Sensory Play): Encouraged listening, rhythm, and communication through natural sounds. According to Wright (2012), children make meaning in the arts when combining sensory exploration with sound and gesture. This aligns with EYLF Outcome 5 (children are effective communicators).

Importantly, these activities also draw on Indigenous perspectives of learning through Country. Even in my backyard, I acknowledged that we were on Wurundjeri Country before stating our experiences. The children’s curiosity about rocks, flowers, and birds reflects Indigenous ways of knowing—where story, land, and sound are interconnected. The practice of Dadirri (deep listening) was present in the echo activity, as children listened carefully to the sounds of the place and responded to each other. Embedding these perspectives shows children that nature is not just a backdrop, but a living teacher and part of storying.

By blending my personal creative response with theory, EYLF outcomes, the UNCRC (Article 31: the right to play and participate in cultural and artistic life), and Indigenous perspectives, these experiences demonstrate how even a backyard can become a site of deep, imaginative, and poetic learning.

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The children engaged enthusiastically in all three activities.

Lost Teddy Adventure created excitement and collaboration, with the children talking, asking questions, and helping each other.

Bird Dance was joyful and inclusive, with all children moving freely and expressing themselves.

Nature Echo prompted great descriptive language and sensory exploration.

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The flower trail was sometimes hard to follow, and the youngest child (2.4 years) needed extra guidance.

During Bird Dance, children got so excited that the rhythm sometimes broke.

There were no real birds around, so we had to imagine the sounds.

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Make the Teddy Adventure clues clearer or add more steps to extend the challenge.

Include visual prompts, like pictures of birds, to support the movement activity.

Prepare more natural sound-making materials, like sticks or seed pods, to deepen the music and sensory play.

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These experiences showed me how creativity flows naturally when children are connected to a place. Open-ended activities give them the chance to take the experience further in their own ways, making learning more meaningful. In future practice, I will continue to integrate story, movement, and sound into outdoor play, using the environment as both a resource and inspiration for arts-based learning.

Overall reflection:
Engaging with this unit has changed the way I see music, movement, and drama. I used to think of them as structured activities, but now I see them as creative languages that children naturally use to explore, express, and connect with the world. Music isn’t just singing—it can be made from natural sounds, body percussion, or echoes. Movement isn’t just dance—it’s how children express imagination and respond to their surroundings. Drama isn’t just acting—it’s storytelling, problem-solving, and collaboration.

Through these backyard activities, I saw the children’s joy, wonder, and creativity come alive. Arts are not extras—they are central to learning, helping children express what cannot always be put into words. I will embed music, movement, and drama into everyday practice as much as possible, valuing them as vital tools for meaning-making and connection with place.

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Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. (2009). Belonging, being and becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Australian Government.

Department of Education and Training. (2016). Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework. Victorian Government.

Edwards, S. (2017). Play-based learning and intentional teaching: Forever different? Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 42(2), 4–11. https://doi.org/10.23965/AJEC.42.2.01

Garvis, S., & Pendergast, D. (2017). Storying beyond words: Understanding children’s musical experiences. Springer.

Wright, S. (2012). Children, meaning-making and the arts (2nd ed.). Pearson Australia.

United Nations. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child

Yunkaporta, T. (2009). Aboriginal pedagogies at the cultural interface [Doctoral thesis, James Cook University]. James Cook University Research Online. https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/10974/

Ungunmerr-Baumann, M. R. (1991). Dadirri: Inner deep listening and quiet still awareness. Daly River: Miriam Rose Foundation.

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Backyard Adventures: Drama, movement and Music in Nature