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This unit takes me on a beautiful journey through our natural world, connecting to the Music,
Movement, and Drama of our first landowners. I really enjoyed it, and it helped me understand how
important it is to encourage children to play in natural settings to explore their creativity and
imaginative skills and also teaches caring for the environment This unit has taught me to analyse
sounds that I was previously unaware of. Even at work, I can hear the sounds of nature, such as birds
chirping and the wind whooshing.
&quot;Observe and what sounds can you hear from nature?&quot; I ask the children as I sit outside with them. I
can now see the children humming and singing while playing.
This unit really made me to reflect on my current practice. Is I am giving the children enough time
to be out for exploring? Am I interrupting the children’s play and creative time by getting involved?
I’ve always thought getting involved will extend their play but now I understood I have to step back
and observe and give them enough time to explore their imagination and creativity, which will help
them to further their development and also engage all their senses while they play outside and
connect to the nature.
I found “Children’s Creative play and the natural environment” ( R Wilson 2007) a thought
provoking text that resonated with me as it explores the need to provide children with opportunities
to engage in creative play in natural environment. This article reflects on my own beliefs and
practices to getting children involved in the natural environment. My aim is to keep implementing
the Reggio Emillia approach ‘ environment as third teacher’ and promote uninterrupted play.
I was surprised to see how the natural environment provides lots of inspiration for creative
expression through temporal art languages. For example the sounds of birds and animals, the
movement of leaves and branches in the wind and the rhythm of water flowing in a stream can all
serve as idea for music, dance and drama. It changes my view of practice in teaching.
The well-known educational psychologist Howard Gardner&#39;s Theory of Multiple Intelligence states
that each person has different ways of learning and different intelligences that they use in their daily
lives. While everyone has some of each intelligence, most people have a dominant intelligence that
influences how they learn and interact with the world around them. These multiple intelligences can
be developed and strengthened based on each individual&#39;s learning style.
This reflects my practise in that we must provide learning opportunities for children that reflect their
&quot;intelligence&quot; and learning style. I have to help children transfer the skills they have learned and
developed into other areas. Young children appear to move and vocalise a lot - and to do so in an
unpredictable manner.

With Task 2, things were a little confusing and overwhelming. Our teacher Martina tried her best to
make us understand some directions that were too difficult to follow. All of the units were
enjoyable, but the assessment made it more difficult for us.

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Session 8 Connecting with place - playing with all languages combined

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Session 8 Connecting with place - playing with all languages combined

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In session 8, we learnt the topic Body percussion which is an important part of music education in
early childhood. It refers to the sounds made by body parts such as the hands, feet, fingers, and
mouth. The body is used as an instrument to produce rhythmic sounds. We use our body parts to
create rhythms, but I had no idea there was a word for it. We always focus on singing, dancing, and
listening to music at our centre because sound is an important part of children&#39;s development. I did
make certain that there were open areas where children could move freely to music and that there
were numerous opportunities for them to hear, produce, and share in various sounds.
Then in my teaching practice to incorporate sound learning and play : I focus on teaching children
about the effects of sounds such as normal speaking voice used for quiet time and taking them to
explore natural and outside sounds at the centre for example listening to the wind, the rain, and

birds chirping and showing children how to make music with their bodies and everyday items like
clapping, hands ,stomping feet, learning to click fingers, and drumming tables.

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Session 7: Connecting with place - playing with Drama

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Session 7: Connecting with place - playing with Drama

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The most influenced part in session 7 is the video shows how children participate in drama
experience on the imaginary problem of where to take baby Koala (Literacy Teaching Toolkit Video:
Journey to Healesville: Learning through Drama, 2019) . This play allows children to explore and
create new worlds and the play are endless. As children take on roles/characters, act out various
scenarios and stories, and solve problems using language and movement, I like to incorporate this
dramatic play into my teaching practice. It can be a powerful tool for learning language.

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Session 6Connecting with place - playing with Movement 

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Session 6Connecting with place - playing with Movement 

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This session makes me to understand how important creative dance is in early childhood. It takes
me into deeper understanding of creative movement and dance which helps younger children to
improve their cognitive development, and provide stimulation of three of those five senses at once:
touch, sight and hearing. It&#39;s stunning and lovely to watch dance as art. Nothing compares to the
spectacle of a talented dancer moving across the stage in rhythm to the music, turning and leaping
as they tell a tale with their body. It was beautifully written in the article &quot;Moving in the Wild is in
Our Bones&quot; and reminds us of how our indigenous ancestors danced in rituals to celebrate all
aspects of life, including birth, death, harvest, and rites of passage. They communicated with the
land&#39;s spirits.
“The tree remains motionless until a breath of wind greets her and sings her leaves to flutter their
stillness. I too sit and breathe until…a deeper breath sings me to dance…my fingers flutter and my
limbs sway.”  ~ Nina Wyte
I will incorporate different types of music to help improve children’s concentration, encourage
memory skills and expand their imagination. Children can also make their own music by creating
their own instruments out of natural materials and loose pieces or by using musical instruments they
already own.

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Session 5Connecting with place - playing with music, movement and drama

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Session 5Connecting with place - playing with music, movement and drama

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The welcome to country Video by Aunty Joy Murphy was really beautiful. She is embracing the
nation so tenderly and with such emotion.
It was so beautiful explained that learning can be engaged and wonder-filled environment through
our eight senses from the article Natural sensory learning by Diann Gano and Sharron Krull which
inspired me to connect with nature with children . In my setting, we took the children to the parks,
nature walk for them to explore the world through sensory play. They were so active and full of
queries about the nature. As an educator, we have to create environment that give them the time,
space and opportunities and investigate to provide meaningful learning experiences.
Wilson&#39;s article emphasizes the significance of providing children with opportunities to engage in
imaginative play in natural environments. He argues that such experiences can positively impact
children&#39;s physical, emotional, and cognitive development.

As an educator, Wilson&#39;s ideas have prompted me to reflect on my role in implementing the
temporal arts languages, such as music/sound, movement/dance, and drama, to help children
connect with nature

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Session 4Connecting with place - playing with Music

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Session 4Connecting with place - playing with Music

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At my previous centre, I frequently played the Inanay song, a lullaby from the Thursday Islands,
during circle time. I felt that children feel and relax their bodies while listening to this song, and they
understand how the mother puts the infant to sleep. While they were watching, children inquired:
Where is the baby&#39;s father?
The article by Dr Ibrahim find out how music can helps children to develop their cognitive, social,
physical and emotional skills. He advised to use vocal chords, clapping, snapping , stomping and
patting , the things also we can use wooden spoon and play it on a pot and also to use drum shakers,
rattles, maracas etc. It reflects me to see children in my centre making their own music by clapping
and stomping their feet, and sometimes I see children holding two pencils in their hands and tapping
on the table.
The first three years of life are critical for brain development. Combining engaging opportunities in
childhood, such as learning a musical instrument or a second language, has the potential to
accelerate brain development. According to research, frequent exposure to art reorganises the
frontal cortex, resulting in increased creativity and decreased inhibitions. (From Article: How Art
changes the brain.)
It makes me to understand that through imaginative play children learn critical thinking skills, how to
follow simple directions, build

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I think Drama is a platform to express our feelings or imagination to act on a stage or in a media
through television or in a film with people by storytelling, performing through actions.
In early childhood education, drama refers to a form of creative play that allows children to explore
their imagination, emotions, and social interactions through acting and role-playing. Through drama
activities, young children can develop their communication and language skills, build self-confidence,
and gain a deeper understanding of themselves and others.
It is a pretend play where children can learn new ways to express themselves, share thoughts and
ideas and even get in touch with their feelings.

Both storytelling and reading a story are great ways to communicate stories to children but while
reading stories, the reader always focused on the printed words and occasionally looking at the
audience. I think both are beneficial for children’s development. It almost sounds magical to tell a
story, as if you can elevate the story being told. In my storytelling, I&#39;d like to use puppets as props.
I am now more aware of making sure that child takes on roles and act them out as a way of exploring
themselves and their surroundings. By creating more pretend play and drama they would like
played and what instruments or materials can be used to extend following the child’s lead.

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Session 2 What is movement as a temporal art?

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Session 2 What is movement as a temporal art?

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I understand that movement/ dance is an art form expressed through our bodies. It’s how our
bodies react to our feelings, our emotions, our surrounding and situation. The article The difference
between Hearing and listening by Pauline Oliveros, reflected me to think about my learning
environment to introduce mindfulness to children, this will encourage the children to feel confident
responding to and managing stressful emotions, they can focus on their activities. I observed that
young children jumps with joy, laugh with their whole bodies, they have no words yet, their
expression are all presented through their body movement, including frustration and anger.
One of the major purposes of traditional Aboriginal dancing was to tell stories, which were passed
down through generations. These stories would be about the land, animals, dreamtime and
Aboriginal people. We always incorporate indigenous culture into my practise in our setting
through special occasions such as NAIDOC week or National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Children&#39;s Day provide a great opportunity to celebrate Indigenous culture and even throughout our
centre we always use resources made from natural materials.

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In session 1, of this unit, I understand that music is a form of self-expression and communication. Through music, we can share stories with others in a creative form, what was able to be understood from the articles Dadirri - Inner Deep Listening &amp; Quiet Still Awareness and Music as a
language by Victor wooten, what resonated the most with me is when explaining We are River
people have some great quotes, which I really enjoy. It is impossible to rush the river. Its current must
be followed, and its ways must be understood. It makes me think about the children; we should
encourage them to do the activities at their own pace, rather than being rushed. I really liked how
Victor talked about learning language and music in the same way, free to explore and for the child to
say/sing/play in their own way without correction guided by instinct and seen as capable learners.
I believe that as an educator children should be given the opportunity to explore their environment
through outdoor play movements and provide various opportunities for children to move.