Rationale:

This creative journey was inspired by my Country-Side reflection. In the reflection I spoke of trees representing resilience, new beginnings and birds signifying independence. The children observed and portrayed these qualities through their movements. Studies have indicated that movement is crucial and plays an important role in assisting children's discovery, attention and wellbeing (Rise Early Learning, 2025).

This connects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander views, movement and dance linking with narrative play as a form of expressing stories and connecting to their land (Harrison, 2016).

Lesson Steps:

1.) Children crouch down as small as they can to mimic seeds in the soil.

2.) Little by little rising elongated like trees and reaching as far as they can to the sky.

3.) Applying swaying and twisting motions side to side to pretend the wind is blowing.

4.) Spreading arms out like branches blooming in different directions.

5.) Imagining they have become birds, and flying freely in the sky.

Reflection:

The children really enjoyed pretending to be seeds and developing into trees. They were very engaged. Three year old Ayesha stated "Its so fun"! which made the creative experience very enjoyable.

When the children stood with their arms out like branches, some became distracted. To make the experience more positive next time, I will give them a stick to hold while stretching out their arms. This will assist with keeping focus on the stick and be less likely to become distracted.

As an educator, this creative journey made me realize the importance of movement in children's overall learning experience. To give them opportunities to express, discover and connect with country in fun engaging ways. This links with learning outcome 3- Children have a strong sense of wellbeing. (ACECQA, 2018)

Rationale:

This creative activity was driven by my Countryside reflection. I expressed that the sound of wind and birds are the native melodies of country. This also aligns with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander standpoints, as natures natural melodies are seen as the expression of the land. By engaging with the leaves and sticks, children worked together as a team exploring, assessing and discussing the different sounds each object made. According to (Young, 2019) it has been found that music has a positive impact on children's ability to express themselves, build friendships and feelings of connectedness.

Lesson Steps:

1.) Children sat on the grass in a circle, holding sticks and leaves.

2.) Analyzed the sticks and leaves and applied shaking motions to imitate the sound of the wind.

3.) Encouraged the children to tap and click the sticks together to imitate bird sounds.

4.) Allowed children to feel free to experiment with the different types of sounds and an opportunity for each child to lead.

5.) Group discussion- asking what they thought of the sounds and how they felt hearing it.

6.) Lastly, all children participated in creating a nature orchestra of soothing birds and wind melodies.

Reflection:

Overall, the children really enjoyed participating in this activity. They were intrigued with all the different sounds involved. Aleena aged 4, happily stated; "That's the birds singing to us!"

This demonstrated that their creativity and connection to country was blooming.

Children at certain points did become slightly distracted due to the limited variety of objects available. To ensure a more positive experience next time, I will provide more natural resources for children to remain engaged and focused.

This activity reminded me of how sound plays a big role in the development of children. By connecting with Country through natural melodies, children found a platform to express thoughts, build social skills and confidence within themselves in a creative manner.

EYLF Learning Outcome 2 and 5 strongly align with this learning journey. Children connected with nature and developed appreciation and respect for Country.

Children also worked together as a team and applied listening and communication skills throughout which positively links to outcome 5 effective communicators (ACECQA, 2018)

Rationale:

This creative activity is an extension of the movement experience, birds symbolized independence and trees represented resilience. In this task children had an opportunity to bring these concepts into real-life play by, pretending to be strong, resilient trees and free independent birds. Children stood firmly on the ground to represent growth and inner strength and stretched out their arms out pretending they had wings and imagined themselves flying and investigating the area around them. According to (Bobrova and Leong, 2019) it has been shown that imaginative play amongst children is a vital tool for development and learning. Teaching valuable life skills such as independence in decision making and creating connections.

Furthermore, this connects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, as the wind, trees and birds represent the natural melodies of the native land. These components are linked to narrative play and are seen as important ways of expressing, communicating and building connections. (QCCA, 2019)

Lesson Steps:

1.) Children had a chance to decide what they wanted to be (Birds, Tree or Wind)

2.) Children stood tall and still like trees to represent strength and resilience.

3.) Extended out their arms and flapping like a bird in the space to symbolize independence

4.) Children slowly glided around the vicinity to mimic the cool breeze of the wind.

5.) Children came together to role-play as a tree, a bird and the wind. One child stood tall like a tree, while the other two children moved around the tree- one flapping like a bird and the other gliding like wind.

Reflection:

This drama activity went well, the children enjoyed role playing as the tree, bird and wind. Each child contributed their own imaginative ideas to the activity, Anisa aged 3 was so excited and said "Look! I'm flying like a bird". She took her bird role very seriously. Which demonstrated the level of engagement and creativity in the task.

At times children would get distracted but once they were brought back into a group together this assisted with re-gaining focus. They began interacting with one another, taking turns and listening to each other. This made me reflect on the benefits of role-playing among children, being a vital tool to develop teamwork skills and understanding with in a group. This concept aligns with EYLF Learning outcome 5: Children collaborated and communicated with one another discussing roles and ideas in imaginative ways (ACECQA, 2018).