The first activity I was only planning to add some sound effects to enrich the whole story at the beginning. It was considered about that we could make some sound effects with our mouths when we are reading stories to the children. For instance, the sounds of wind, rain, birds, part of animals are easy made by our mouths. There is also some music instrument available in the children’s classroom that could be used for adding the sound effects to stories. My mind was changed after I saw the video of introducing Foley art in the class. The children would have more freedom in their exploring when we only apply the materials to them. Then I created the first experience which I called ‘Foley art creating’. Wilson (2018) pointed out that “The imaginary world of children helps them learn many critical concepts about the world that we call “real”. An essential concept embedded in pretend play is the understanding that one thing can represent something else” (p. 7). For example, in my first activity video, the sound of shaking the paper bag pretended to be the sound of wind; the sound of pressing the dog toy pretended to be the sound of birds; etc. I do believe that the children could explore more Foley arts with their imagination and creativity. They also have opportunities to notice and learn the sounds which might be easily ignored in their daily life.

The second experience I divided into two parts, using the upper body (mainly by fingers, hands and arms) and using the lower body (mainly by feet and legs) to perform the whole story I created in assessment 2. I was only planning to perform the story by lower body at the beginning. This performing style was inspired by a class warm-up activity which held by our teacher last year. My mind was provoked when I saw the table I used in the first activity, as the lower body performing request sitting on the floor, actually we could also perform the story with the upper body when we sitting on the chair. This is the origin of my second experience. Rinaldi (2006, as cited in Edwards et al., 2011) stated “We need a teacher who is sometimes the director, sometimes the set designer, sometimes the curtain and backdrop, and sometimes the prompter” (p. 147). I had leaded a group of children to use the lower body by copying my movement to perform a story the last year. It actually settled down the children; they had fun and developed their motor skills at the same time.

The third experience was adding the story from assessment 2 to children’s dramatic play lists. Children loved dramatic play and this mostly happened at the home corner as there were always babies, tables, and kitchen available for the children. Adding this story aims to enrich children’s dramatic play lists and provoke children’s curiosity and new interests. Roy (2015) mentioned that “Most importantly, they communicate something ‘other’, something valuable that is ‘beyond’ words. This is what the Arts ‘do’ for us, and therein lies their real value to adults and children alike” (p. 13). I hope to intrigue children’s interests and respects of the life born and life cycle through this dramatic play.  

The second experience was fun and supported the development of motor skills. After recording and re-watching the video, I think the movements were a bit too simple and not quite accurate. It is better to lead the children in this activity after practicing. And the sound effects could be added by punching the table with hands, stomping on the floor with feet, clapping with hands, or imitating the various sounds by mouth, etc. I would definitely keep this experience in my future practice of early childhood education - more body movements could be added in from easy to hard, from sports to yoga; more stories could be added in for performing.

For the third experience, frankly, I do not have expectations or un-expectations at the beginning as I have no access to perform this activity with children. But I do expect that the children could learn more ‘real’ concepts through their dramatic play, for instance, the curiosity and respect for life cycles of humans, animals, plants and more. Furthermore, more characters could be added to the story, such as a daddy bird, older or younger siblings, other family members, or even predators. Adapting more popular stories with the children to enrich the content for children’s drama performances. Designing the stories related items or set up related ‘theme park’ for the children. Experience 1 could be combined with this experience at an appropriate time.

Overall Reflection

The result of engaging with the unit content and required tasks is that my definition of music, movement and drama have been broadened and the understanding of these have been further enhanced. For example, the music not only included the sound by singing or music instrument, but also include all the other sounds like babies’ jamming, bugs chirping, raining, etc. People who are deaf could enjoy the music; people who are blind could enjoy the movie (drama play); and people who are with disabilities could enjoy the dance. These all would help me to support children’s free play and take the consideration of children who need more help and support in my future practice of early childhood education.

ISBN: 9780313359620

Roy, D., Baker, W., & Hamilton, A. (2015). What are the Arts and what do they ‘do’? Teaching the arts: Early childhood and primary education (2nd ed., pp. 11–13). Cambridge University Press.

ISBN: 9781107433670

Wilson, R. A. (2018). Nature and young children: Encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/vu.edu.au?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.taylorfrancis.com%2Fbooks%2Fmono%2F10.4324%2F9781315148533%2Fnature-young-children-ruth-wilson