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This planned experience consists of three short activities (music, dance and drama) inspired by my sensory exploration of Karkarook Park in Assessment 2. The elements of this natural space inspired me to think about how to transform these experiences into artistic activities suitable for children, even in an indoor or family environment, to inspire them to connect with "place". Although I was not able to implement these experiences with children, I further understood the importance of artistic language in early education through the planning process.

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Goals: Help children explore rhythm, sound, and imagination by using everyday kitchen materials to represent the movement and feel of wind.

Materials:

A metal bowl

A metal spoon

A wine glass (high-stemmed)

A plastic bottle filled with wood bark

Steps:

1. Introduce kitchen utensils one by one. Encourage children to tap the bowl, tap the wine glass, and shake the plastic bottle. What sounds will they hear? What kind of wind might these sounds represent?

2.Ask children to create their own version of “wind” using the items in front of them. Is it a soft, whispery breeze? Or a strong, swirling gust? Let them explore fast and slow rhythms, quiet and loud tones.

3. Reflection and dialogue (using open-ended questions): “Which item did you use to imitate the wind? What did it sound like?” “Was the wind you just felt gentle or loud?”

Connect with the framework:This activity supports EYLF Outcome 5 - children express themselves in a variety of ways, including music and body language.

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Goal: Encourage children to express their understanding of bird behavior with their bodies and feel the relationship between body rhythm and nature.

Required materials:

Birdsong (background music from Assessment 2)

Ribbons, scarves

Steps:

1.Play the bird sounds, ask children to close their eyes and imagine themselves becoming a bird.

2.Children can drape scarves or ribbons around themselves as their wings.

Lead children to do simple warm-up movements, such as spreading wings, waving wings, twisting bodies, etc.

3.Children can dance and spin freely in the open space while listening to music, flying up and down like birds in the sky.

Use scarves to increase sensory participation and encourage children to dance freely.

4.After the music ends, ask children to share where they flew to? How does it feel to fly?

Theoretical link:

Wilson (2018) emphasized that when children interact with natural elements, they not only develop physical skills, but also express their inner emotions and imagination through movements. This "fly like a bird" game allows children to connect physically with nature and also inspires their artistic expression.

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Imagination Under the Rainbow (Drama Experience)

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Imagination Under the Rainbow (Drama Experience)

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Goals: To guide children through natural elements and sensory materials to participate in dramatic play, develop language expression, character awareness and creativity.

Materials required:

Rainbow photo ( from Assessment 2)

Colored clay, white paper

projector

Activity steps:

1.Introduction: Project a picture of a rainbow on a white wall, display a picture of a rainbow, and guide children to describe the colors, feelings, and the beginning of the story they think of.

2.Building a Rainbow world:

Children can use colored clay to create characters, weather, wind, birds, clouds and other elements in the "rainbow world."

Guide children to use movement and language to express roles: How does the wind blow? How do birds fly?

3.Teachers can add interactive questions:

"Where does your bird want to go?"

"Do you know who the rainbow's friends are?"

Children are encouraged to create their own "rainbow stories ", and as children make clay, they bring into the characters they have created and demonstrate their" stories "on white paper.

4.Children can share stories and their clay creations with friends in the corner of the sofa.

Theoretical link: Meyers and Berk (2014) believe that pretend play helps children develop self-regulation and social skills. In this drama, children construct narratives through role play, learn to understand the world from different perspectives, and express themselves better.

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Although I could not actually experience these teaching activities with children, the whole planning process made me realize that art language is not only a way of expression, but also a bridge for perceiving the world and establishing connections. The gentleness of the wind, the singing of birds, and the mystery of the rainbow that I felt in Karkarook Park left a deep impression on me. How to transform these details in nature into teaching opportunities has got me deep thinking.

I was particularly inspired by Reggio Emilia's philosophy. The "hundred languages" described by Gandini (2012) reminds us that every child has a variety of expressions and that art is one of the key pathways to activate these languages. When designing dance and drama experiences, I always think about this concept and how to let children express their connection with place through movement, sound, and imagination. At the same time, the Dadirri philosophy proposed by Ungunmerr (n.d.) has also had a profound impact on me. In the music experience, I try to create an atmosphere of "listening to nature quietly" to help children quietly perceive the breathing and changes of the wind. This kind of listening is a kind of respect for the environment and a way of understanding "place".

Through this task, my teaching perspective has changed. At first, I thought music, dance, and drama were just "entertaining" activities, but now I deeply realize that they are bridges for children to explore places, construct meanings, and express feelings. In future educational practice, I hope to continue to combine natural experience with artistic language to help children grow in connection with places and stimulate their creativity and imagination.

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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. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=820317&ppg=330

Gano, S., & Krull, J. (2020). Natural sensory learning. Community Playthings. https://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/2020/Natural-Sensory-Learning

Ungunmerr, M.-R. (n.d.). Dadirri – Inner deep listening and quiet still awareness. Miriam Rose Foundation. https://www.miriamrosefoundation.org.au/about-dadirri/

Wilson, R. A. (2018). Nature and young children: Encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/vu.edu.au?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.taylorfrancis.com%2Fbooks%2Fmono%2F10.4324%2F9781315148533%2Fnature-young-children-ruth-wilson

Meyers, A. B., & Berk, L. E. (2014). Make-believe play and self-regulation. In L. Brooker, M. Blaise, & S. Edwards (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of play and learning in early childhood (pp. 84–96). SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473907850