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Introduction: This journal represents the various ideas in different activities which encourage children to engage in eco-friendly play. There are six different activities discussed with the support of various articles to represent an idea of eco-friendly in Early Childhood Education. With every example of activity, the appropriate process, discussion and implications for practice have been discussed to initiate the movement, music, drama and visual arts among the children. In the end, the closing statement has been provided to summarize the whole concept and benefits of encouraging children for eco-friendly play. These activities are not totally eco-friendly but can depict the ideas of observing the various forms of learning by using materials that are easily available in any childcare centre. The various examples are given in this journal by acknowledging and observing with real-life examples encountered at the workplace with the different age groups of the children. Most of the activities can be done by the age group from 1- 5 years old with the supervision of the educator, the equipment which is encouraged to use is easily available for educators.

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1.       Entry: Reusing the paper to make an aeroplane to show continuous motion

Artefact: The material used for this inquiry is coloured paper and the outcome from this is a paper aeroplane to show the children the continuous motion as these movements reflect the sense of exploring the ability of the paper which will emerge the excitement among children and encourage them to use their imagination in their play (Ketchabaw, Veronica, 2016).

There is a simple process to make an aeroplane with the help of coloured paper. The paper can be reused from any source such as old newspapers, magazines or old documents which are not in use.

Discussion: The paper plane reflects a surprising effect on the children as it gives them an idea of moving an object in the air and it also initiates the use of hand and eye coordination while playing. The paper aeroplane not only describes a wonderful play for children but also emerge their understanding of the relationship with the material while playing, where children connect with material by using their senses and make momentum to initiate their imagination as if they want to reach a goal (Ketchabaw, Veronica, 2016). Throwing an aeroplane from one distance to another helps children to use their basic calculations of using their movements of arms, hands and eyes to reach the desired place where they want to throw their aeroplane. This inquiry accumulates the understanding to develop the opportunity for children to initiate their ongoing engagement with the material to let them understand the motion, flexibility, physics and creativity with paper (Pelo, 2016)

Implications: This inquiry ensured the various perspectives of learning within the play for children by using coloured paper as an artefact. The process of setting up the play or an environment for children can be done inside or outside of the classroom where the children can choose their favourite colours by themselves. However, they need assistance from the educator to make a proper aeroplane as it contains various steps and techniques. An educator plays an important role to encourage them to choose their favourite colour as it defines their own choice and encourages their imagination and their uniqueness (Pelo, 2016).

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2.      Entry: Leaf painting on white paper with paint

Artefacts: The basic material used is as follows:

1.       Different leaves from garden or trees

2.       Paint

3.       Paint brushes

4.       White paper

The following materials have been used to encourage children to connect with the shapes, colours, process of printing on the paper, number of leaves, describing the shapes as the smallest or biggest, using hand and eye coordination, and maintaining the grip while using a paintbrush.

Process: some steps can be followed while performing this activity:

1.       Collect the leaves from the garden or trees.

2.       Set up the table with all required materials such paint, brushes and white coloured paper.

3.       The children can be encouraged to paint the leaf with a paintbrush and put the painted side of the leaf on the white paper.

4.       Press the leaf for a few seconds to have a nice print on paper.

Discussion: The above process has been used to develop a basic understanding for children to encourage them to connect with nature by choosing the different kinds of leaves from the garden or trees outside. This activity encourages children to develop coordination between them and with choice of the paint or with different sizes of leaves where the colour and size of the object defines to encourage their imagination to develop their ideas (Ketchabaw, Veronica, 2016). For example,  choosing purple paint for a leaf defines their freedom of personal choice and imagination of having a purple-coloured tree that depicts that children can communicate with art about their choices on how they want the world to look by using art as a language (Roy, Baker, WJ & Hamilton 2015).

Implication: This activity ensures the connection between visual arts and the environment as the children can mix and match the materials around them which could make an exceptional discovery for them by using their imagination (Toppal, Gandini 1999). By using the leaf printing activity to develop curiosity among children, there is a chance to develop various opportunities to initiate their learning as children reflect on their style of exploring nature uniquely. In this activity, the children are also encouraged to pick the leaves from the floor which are already detached from the stem.

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3.       Entry: Reusing old newspapers and magazines for cutting and pasting activity

Artefact: cutting and pasting

In this entry, another activity that has been used at almost every childcare centre is cutting and pasting. This activity encourages children to reuse the paper which they don’t want, old newspapers or magazines.

The material used for this activity:

1.       A pair of scissors

2.       Old newspapers and magazines

3.       White paper

4.       glue

The cutting and pasting activity can be done whether indoor or outdoor. The supervision of an educator is needed when children commence the activity as the usage of scissors can be hazardous. The bits of paper can be arranged by an educator for children who are unable to use scissors.

Discussion: The cutting and pasting activity encourages children to use their motor skills as in this activity there is a need for hand and eye coordination especially while cutting the papers. This activity also presents an opportunity for children to develop their artistic skills as they have the freedom of choice to express their form of art by presenting the bits of paper in their way. Moreover, children can use represent their ideas through a different form of art where they can express their feelings, emotions and connections through their artwork (Roy, Baker & Hamilton 2015).

Implications: The activity of cutting and pasting paper depicts the visual arts which have been conducted by the children. This activity provides the freedom to represent the ideas through art as children are free to do this activity, but they also need to follow the instructions while using the equipment (Mahsulah, Syaodih &Rachmawati 2020). While performing this activity, various other ideas can be followed such as asking questions to the children about what they are making, how they are feeling about it and so on.

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4.       Entry: Exploring the sounds with objects around the children

Artefacts: This activity represents creating different sounds by using material that is easily available within the classroom. If no equipment or toy can be found which does not make any sound, then the usage of spoons, glasses or plates is encouraged.

It is a great opportunity, for children, to choose the object and make a sound out of it which represents the music and drama in the classroom. This activity can be done inside or outside of the room with any age group.

Discussion: Music plays an important part in every child’s life as this is the way of connecting with the children’s emotions, understanding and maintaining the relationship with them. It becomes easy to connect with the children with help of music when an educator starts to play or sing along with them ( Hanna 2016) as the sounds and lyrics of the song can create a connection between educator and children where they start to build the trust.

Implication: In this activity, the music and drama played an important role to encourage the children to build relationships with educators and with their peers. The activity can be done with the equipment which children are familiar with and the educator should also sing the song to lure the children to perform the activity. Encouraging children to pick up whatever they like to make a sound with, engages the children to develop their connections with the materials in their classroom (Ketchabaw, Veronica, 2016). Using the various kinds and forms of materials to make the different encourages multidisciplinary learning among children as they develop the knowledge of the sounds, for example, spanking a spoon on the table made a loud sound and bangingasoftballll on the table made a very low sound.

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5.       Entry: Connecting with sand and water

Artefact: The sand and water play is very popular for kids as it encourages their various skills such as sensory, and gross motor skills, lifting the buckets full of sand and much more. Other than these skills, the sand and water enhance the opportunity for children which leads to their dramatic visualizations and imaginations.

For this activity sand and water plays an important role, however, various other material can be used such as buckets, shovels, bowls, containers and spatula. This activity is best conducted outside however, it can be done inside of the classroom as well.

Discussion: This activity not only generates sensory play but also stimulates the imagination, creativity and drama of the children. Mixing sand and water represents the thought among the children to get connected with nature and have an understanding of attachment with natural resources to respect it (Ketchabaw, Veronica, 2016). This activity depicts the assemblage of the objects as mixing up sand and water changes their outer form into various types providing insightful knowledge for children (Ketchabaw, Veronica, 2016).

Implications: The sand and water activity is the best way to teach the children about the connection between them and nature. The educator plays an important role to represent the feeling of connection with the surroundings and materials around them so that children connect themselves with nature while playing (Toppal, Gandini 1999). This activity also represents the dramatic imagination among children, for example, making a volcano with sand or a birthday cake by putting sticks on it which represent the candles, initiate imagination and creativity among children.

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6.       Entry: Initiating the art in an eco-friendly way by using chalk

Artefact: The main artefact used in this activity is chalk. Chalk is an object which is easily available in different colours and can be presented to children to encourage them to do art without using paper. However, there might a scenario of saving the art of the child, so it can be saved by taking pictures of the art done by children on the daily basis. As this activity represents only chalk drawing so there is no need for any other material to commence the activity. Drawing with chalk can be only done outside of the classroom on the concrete or any other piece of blackboard if the activity is conducted inside of the classroom.

Discussion: Representing the various ideas of the free form of art by different colours of chalks on the floor or a piece of blackboard stimulates the freedom of expressing the imagination and ideas of the children. Making a path to treasure or drawing any building which can be named by any child’s name, represents the creativity and imagination among children in a broad way (Ketchabaw, Nxumalo & Kocher 2015). This play encourages them to build their relationship with each other by sharing their ideas and maintaining the relationship with their peers. This activity also represents the understanding of motion by encouraging children to reflect upon the motion they are using to draw with chalk on the floor (Ketchabaw, Veronica, 2016).

Implications: This activity reflects an amazing point of view of using an eco-friendly object for play that also initiates the excitement among children to take part in it. This activity indicates the drama and movement where children use their ideas to create a piece of art which have an amazing back story behind it. There is always a connection between the material and children as they connect their stories, art and imagination that leads to the core memory which they remember for a long time (Gandini 2015).

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Conclusion: The above-discussed ideas represent the different forms of play that initiate an environment that can be set up for children in an eco-friendly way. An educator plays a vital role to initiate opportunities for the children by closely supervising, documenting the process and reflecting upon the outcomes of the process to present various strategies for children to learn while playing. This journal also depicts a connection between the living and non-living things to develop an understanding of nature and respect for using the objects wisely in a play. The above-discussed activities can be just an idea to encourage the children to follow the eco-friendly thought at a very early age by using old paper, sand, water and chalks to develop their learning on daily basis.

Some various changes and additions can be made while performing these activities as they are not a hundred per cent eco-friendly, however, these activities at least initiate the connection between the encounter with materials and reflect the various examples of movement, visual arts, drama and music.

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References:

1.       Pacini-Ketchabaw, Veronica, et al. Encounters with Materials in Early Childhood Education, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016. ProQuest Ebook Central.

2.       Pelo, 2016, The language of art: inquiry-based studio practices in early childhood settings, Redleaf Press.

3.       Roy, D, Baker, WJ & Hamilton, 2015, ‘Excerpt from A vision for the arts in education, Teaching the arts: early childhood and primary education, 2nd and, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, VIC, pp. 11–13.

4.       Topal, CW & Gandini, L 1999, ‘Connections’, Beautiful stuff: learning with found materials, Davis Publications, Worcester, pp. 49–66.

5.       Mahshulah, ZA, Syaodih, E & Rachmawati, Y 2020, ‘The ray of light: an activity approach of Reggio Emilia’, The 2nd International Conference on Elementary Education, Department of Early Childhood Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, pp. 1–6, viewed

6.       Hanna, W 2016, The children’s music studio: a Reggio-inspired approach, Oxford University Press

7.       Pacini-Ketchabaw, V, Nxumalo, F & Kocher, L 2015, Journeys: reconceptualizing early childhood practices through pedagogical narration, University of Toronto Press Higher Education.

8.       Gandini, L, Hill, L, Cadwell, L & Schwall, C 2015, L Gandini, L Hill, L Cadwell & C Schwall (eds), In the spirit of the studio: learning from the atelier of Reggio Emilia, 2nd and, Teachers College Press