(please note these are my children and nephews and photo was consented to)

Being able to slow down within different environments is crucial, Teaching and incorporating relaxation gives your body a chance to understand itself and mindfulness to develop, while also learning self-awareness of one’s feelings and emotions (Steven, 2025). Incorporating my on Country visit and bringing the environment and atmosphere that I encountered at the foreshore would engaging children outside bare foot in a quiet open space with yoga and getting them to feel within themselves while listening and taking in what nature brings around us outside e.g. the birds singing, the trees blowing or the distant sounds of trains and cars. This is giving the children a chance to relax, clear their minds and connect with the environment around them within the centre they may be. It also gives the opportunity to experience different textures and temperatures through different bare skin which creates strong nerve connections (Gano & Krull, 2020).

Using all the different languages and senses within learning helps create an understanding of how things work. Like Piaget believed, children discover in diverse ways at different ages, being able to see, touch, taste, smell, move and hear what they are learning about helps the discovery and understanding throughout their research about their environment around them (Lorina, 2023). This experience has made me reflect and consider that every child is different and learns differently, being able to incorporate different senses within one experience gives the opportunity for many of children to engage and explore while developing their abilities through the sense that works best for them. I have always used exploration and imagination within my practices but giving the chance to look at using different senses within my teaching will help engage and grow more children that come into my classrooms giving me the ability to guide and nurture more children building foundational skills and a love of learning.

Lorina. (2023, March 7). Child Theorists and Their Theories in Practice. Retrieved from Assie Childcare Network: https://aussiechildcarenetwork.com.au/articles/childcare-articles/child-theorists-and-their-theories-in-practice

Steven, K. (2025). Creative Dance-Play for Early childhood. Retrieved from Dance Teaching Ideas, Creative Dance Activities: https://danceteachingideas.com/creative-dance-movement-for-toddlers/

Wilson, R. A.  (2008) Children, creative play, and the natural environment. Nature and young children: Encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments (pp. 1-18). Routledge.