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Lets dig deeper into the concept of 'Movement'

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Look around yourself. We see wind blowing, trees swaying, waves touching the shore, birds flying, rain drops kissing the nature. All these ongoing phenomena connect us to the wider concept of ‘Movement’. We sit, stand, wave our hands, move our legs, cook, eat, explore the materials and that is all hence, a constituent of the movement.

In Early Childhood Education, children are considered as capable and competent in a way that they are explorers, discovers and inventors. Their encounter with the concept of movement is a natural and ongoing process. In these early years, they understand and react to what movement is all about. They crawl, move, run, hop, twirl, use materials like paper, paint, playdough, soft toys and many more materials to just move them and look to what movement looks like, feel it, understand it and how it is a part of our daily lives. Hillevi Lenz Taguchi (2010) lays emphasis on the fact that, “the material world acts on our thinking as much as our thinking acts on the material world.” Therefore, moving materials and encountering with the artistic languages is all fitted well withing the concept of movement.

In simple terms, we know movement means moving, but moving is a broader concept that is beyond our control and expectations. Therefore, this inquiry into movement will be explored through the materials like, paper, paint, loose parts, natural materials and the artistic languages of dance and music.

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I used paper as a medium for play. I crinkled it, tore it, turned it around, flipped, flapped, squished, folded, blew it and apparently, explored it. It was not just a paper, rather a medium of movement. By moving the paper, twisting and turning it around, I was able to make an airplane and a paper boat. All I engaged in was the concept of ‘movement’. I had so many explorations to do with the paper. I simply had no idea to what I was doing or making. All I did, was engaging in moving the paper. I was also able to make a 3 paper dolls, where I crinkled 3 papers and made fans with other three papers. I had fun exploring this material through the concept of ‘movement’.

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Paper has a life of its own in this world. It flips, crinkles, flies, flaps, flutters, tears, rips, rolls and engages in the language of movement on its own (Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind & Kocher 2016). It comes in different textures, colours, styles and is used for ample of purposes, like wrapping, making an envelope, painting, writing and as a play-based learning tool.
In Early Childhood, paper has been used as a medium of play since ages, rather, it is used by everyone to play with. As I explored and played with paper, contextualizing the concept of movement, people do the same. Tim Ingold (2011) talks about paper as a riddle and emphasises that to solve this riddle, we need to learn how it moves and modifies and what happens to it.

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In Early Childhood education, paper can be explored using the concept of movement and hence, I tried exploring it with children. A few kinds of papers like crinkled, chart paper, cardboard sheet and colourful A4 papers were put in front of children to choose and do whatever they want to. Some tore it, others blew it off, some tried to fold it and make things out of it. It was actually an exploration and creativity, and imaginations were popping out.  One child also tried to stick it with the other using a glue.
Hence, it can be cited that movement follows paper and paper follows movement. Thus, playing and exploring the concept of movement with paper is always fun activity to try out with children in early childhood.

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For me, art is an expression of my emotions and is wholly a creation of moving your hands, colours, popping them out and mixing them to create a masterpiece. I wanted to play with the paint, feel it, blend, splatter, squish, pick-up, scrub, combine, immerse, wipe and wash, apparently, exploring it through the concept of movement. I mixed the vibrant shades of orange and yellow, moved them using a brush. I blew into the straw to create an impression of a free life and they were moving on their own, in different directions. I dipped a crinkled paper into the paint, and dabbed it on the frame, moved my hands to explore it. I also dipped my hand in paint, and it started to drip. I can see the drops falling and it was like an adventure, exploring the concept of movement through paint.

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When I think of paint, the only thing that strikes my mind is vibrant colours that I want to dab, pat, finger, strike, move, mix, squish, blend and do whatever I think of doing. Movement lives within paint. Think of turning the paint bottle upside down, what we will see is paint splashing over. Hence, exploring the concept of paint using movement is always fun and exciting. Mixing, dipping, stirring, squishing the paint meets performance, anticipation and narration (Ingold 2011). Paint moves as it is explored and worked with and hence, Ann Pelo (2016) says, "Art can be a way to be in the world, an expression to participate in our life".

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In early childhood, its is emphasised that painting contributes to a child’s social, emotional, physical and creative development (Golomb 1992) and hence there are so many fun activities to try with paint in exploring the concept of movement.

Simply, put different colours of paint in a zip-lock bag along with a few drops of water. Seal the bag and put it in front of the children. See what they do! A simple answer to this is ‘movement’. Children will try to squish the bag, dap and pat, seeing how paint moves, mixes with water, how colours, when mixed, form a new shade. This activity will help children develop sensory skills, along with social skills and enhance their potential and creativity. Therefore, there are so many fun activities to try with paint in understanding movement.

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Put your hands in the air, close your eyes and play some music. What you think will happen? An obvious answer to this is ‘Dance’. Dance is always fun and to me its like an adventure. My hands and body move on its own, when I hear music. All I do is dance, moving my hands, legs, arms and everything, flicking my hair up and just enjoying and dancing. The video that I have uploaded is from Snowy mountains, where I visited two weeks ago. I played some music when I reached the height, and all I did was explored the artistic language of dance through movement.

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When you dance, your body becomes a physical representation of meaning, which is the same way we use words, and hence that’s the reason, we call dance as an artistic language (Trice, K 2016). Dance involves the movement of body. It is not something that you have force, rather it comes from within. The feelings of joy, happiness, excitement and fun all let the body move and dance. Dance is also very inviting, I mean, when I look at someone dancing, I can’t stop myself from letting in and moving my hands, may it be just a wave. Hence, movement lives within the language of dance.

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Children love to dance and hence, for them it is an expression of joy. In early childhood settings, dance, as a language of movement, is practiced almost every day. For children, to engage their bodies in movement, educators can simply pop-up some poems, songs or children’s music on iPad and let children explore the concept of movement. They will put their hands up, move their legs, hop, twirl, pop and do what they want to and hence will be able to express themselves. Dance, as an artistic language, is also a demonstration of art and feelings in highly expressive way. Hence, children should be engaged in dancing for exploring the concept of movement.

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Nature is a beautiful gift to mankind. When it comes to movement with nature, I think I typically feel it every day. Looking at the moon and how every day, it changes its shapes, and moves around. Going to the beach and letting the waves touch my feet. I think that we are surrounded by the concept of movement and that lies in our nature. I took some petals of flowers and blew them. They were moving on their own, here and there. Hence, Nature and movement are indispensable and connected concepts.

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Best pictures are always when you are amidst nature

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Simply, look around yourself, tall swaying trees, sunlight as a blanket of warmth, moonlight showering calmness, beautiful landscapes, waves kissing the shore, all these wonderful gifts immerse me into the depth of love for nature. Watts (2013) emphasises the concept of place-thought, drawing the idea that land is alive, and hence, through this, I personally feel that aliveness is connected to movement. We see birds flying, leaves swaying, clouds pouring rain, flower blooming and so much more, all these are explored, discovered and felt only through the course of movement. Thus, nature is alive and movement coincides in nature.

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In Early Childhood setting, nature and outdoor area play a significant role in a child’s life. Children play in sand area, climb trees, collect leaves, look at the birds, play with pebbles and hence, explore the nature and its connection with the concept of movement. For implying movement to practice using nature as an artefact, educators can allow children to collect stones or pebbles, and make whatever they want to. Some will try to move them in the order of their size, some may roll them, throw them, pick them up, hence engaging in movement. Also, children can play with leaves, look at swaying trees, how they move when wind blows. All these encounters with nature and materials can give an insight into the concept of movement.

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Nature is alive and that's how it is connected to movement

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Whenever, I think of light, my mind strikes about shadows and play, i.e. moving hands or making patterns in a light and shadow zone. This is all due to the course of movement of light and playing with shadow. I made different patterns with my hand and casted the shadow of this hand movement on a paper. It was fun playing with the light and wondering how beautiful the phenomena is. Along with this, I also explored the natural sunlight and moonlight and how its moves and lapses as the time goes by.

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Thornton & Brunton (2010) describe that playing with light and dark is a magical experience that is enjoyed by everyone. Also, think of the natural sources of light, like sun and moon. Their position and movement enable us to explore the artefact, i.e., light. I always wonder, when I look at the rainbow, the beautiful spectrum of light that is caused by the reflection and refraction. This is, hence, a natural phenomenon, yet the movement of sunlight through the water droplets let us witness and adore this beauty. Hence light is caused by movement, which further details our understanding of how both the concepts are interrelated.

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In Early childhood education, experiences involving light and shadow enable children to appreciate the wonders of the world around them and provide a rich environment to develop their natural curiosity (Thornton & Brunton 2010). To imply the learning of concept of movement in accordance to light, educators can do bubbles with children, showing them different colours that pot in bubbles. Also, shadow play can help children to enhance their creativity and knowledge. They can see how shadow elongates when sun reaches the other ends and how shadow is the shortest, when sun is just above the head in afternoon. This is all caused by the concept of movement. Hence, through this exploration of light, children can connect themselves to the artefact of light.

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Music, for me, is emotion. It like an expression depicted using the movement of sounds. Music can be created in any way, rather, we are surrounded by music everywhere. I took two pans and a spoon and started to make a beat by dabbing the spoon on them, and I was able to make music. I also stomped my feet on the floor, creating another sound effect, hence, I personally feel that music can be created in nay way, using the concept of movement, may it be with your hands, legs or your throat itself. I love music and singing, and to honest it is my passion. It makes me feel myself and is kind of a stress buster to me. So, I play with music, moving the sound up and down, and letting this artistic language take its toll.

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Oliveros, P (1999) states that music has no language and is rather based on the concept of deep listening. We know, music is a composition of sounds, tunes and ideas, when put together and moved along, give rise so something spectacular and amazing. Music can be made using anything, by moving anything, all we need to do is listen. I love music and singing. I can feel it, understand it, for me it need not to have any lyrics, tunes, notes and sounds are enough to make it appealing. Hence, the artistic language of music, wholly revolves around the concept of movement.

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Children love music and can compose it own their own!

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Hanna, W (2017) states that music is an opportunity for learning and exploration and hence, children can play, move and learn from music. Educators can make musical instruments like putting sand in a bottle, gravel in another, beads in another and so many other things. Children will try to move, shake or explore these instruments and will create a music of their own. They might also take a wooden stick and dab it on the steel fence, making music and sounds through movement. Hence, there are ample ways for children to connect to the music and explore this language using the concept of movement.

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Overall, I learnt that the concept of movement is very vast. It is not only concerned with moving and playing with materials, rather, exploring the artistic languages is also a crucial aspect to understand movement. Through this journal, an enquiry into the concept of ‘Movement’ was explored using materials like paper, paint, light and nature, along with the artistic languages of dance and music. We are surrounded by the concept of movement everywhere, from natural to the artificial world. And hence, it requires an understanding of how this vast concept is related to our lives.

In Childhood education as well, movement is explored using multiple and multimodal ways and materials. However, there are some things as well which can be added for a child’s personal and social development. Try to put any object in front of the child, he/she will try to explore it, move it around, look at it, feel it and hence, will encounter the concept of movement.

In this course, I was a little bit challenged at certain stages to connect to the concepts and relate them to some of the broader concepts of form and functionality. However, I feel that movement is art, it has a form and a role to play in our lives. What we require to understand is, looking through a broader lens and feeling confident and connect to the learning that children are capable and competent, and they realize and work through the gravity through their own explorations.

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Golomb, C 1992, ‘The child’s creation of a pictorial world’, CA: The University of California Press, viewed August 20, 2022.

Hanna, W 2016, ‘The children’s music studio: a Reggio-inspired approach’, Oxford University Press, viewed 20 August 2022.

Ingold, T 2011, 'Being alive: Essays on movement, knowledge and description', New York, NY: Routledge, viewed August 20, 2022.

Lenz Taguchi, H 2010, ‘Going beyond the theory/practice divide in early childhood education: Introducing an intra-active pedagogy', New York, NY: Routledge, viewed August 20, 2022.

Pacini-Ketchabaw, V, Kind, S, & Kocher, LLM 2016, 'Encounters with Materials in Early Childhood Education' , Taylor & Francis Group, London, viewed 6 August, 2022.

Pelo, A 2016, 'The language of art: inquiry-based studio practices in early childhood settings', Redleaf Press, viewed 20 August, 2022.

Thornton, L & Brunton, P 2010, ‘Exploring light and dark with early years’, Teaching Expertise, Wordpress, viewed 20 August 2022.

<https://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/exploring-light-and-dark-with-early-years/#:~:text=Playing%20with%20light%20and%20dark%20creates%20magical%20experiences%20that%20both,Dowling%20terms%20’gratuitous%20fear>

Trice, K 2016, ‘Dance is a language: Here’s why’, Women’s health magazine, Odyssey, viewed August 20, 2022.

<https://www.theodysseyonline.com/dance-is-language>

Watts, V 2013, 'Indigenous place-thought and agency amongst humans and non humans (First Woman and Sky Woman go on a European world tour!) Decolonization: Indigeneity', Education & Society, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 21.