ECE 2008 AT2 Spring Valley Reserve by

A lonely big cloud (Creative Response)

yvonne_zhang2006 — 2024-09-04 03:03:29 UTC

The story talks about a lonely big cloud that realizes he can provide joys to children by using his kindness and creativity and discovering his place in the sky.

Spring Valley Walk

yvonne_zhang2006 — 2024-09-04 04:27:40 UTC

When I stood at Spring Valley Reserve, I felt the wind blowing stronger than I felt in indoor. I t brushed my skin, hair and clothes. It picked up the sand, the soil, shifted the leaves in the trees, causing them to move and swing as if they were dancing in the sky. I also heard the birds were chirping and flying around that they are resonating with the music together.

The clouds were constantly moving and reorganizing with each blast of wind. They shaped into different creatures chasing each other across the sky, some of them moved fast, like they were playing an exciting game of "run, run, catch me if you can."

It was more than simply visual experience to me which provided me a sensory and emotional connection to nature. The wind, the trees, and the clouds all come alive, speaking in a language and telling me the story.

Language of Music/Sound

yvonne_zhang2006 — 2024-09-04 04:40:06 UTC

As the wind blowing through the trees, the rustling leaves were moving along with the various intensity of the wind, some time were gentle blowing, sometime is strong gust. All other natural components such as birds, sand, soil and clouds resonated together into a musical language as “Dadirri” (MiriamRoseFoundation, 2017) highlights the value of being in the nature and listening with all of our senses,it is powerfully connecting me with the sound and touching me in heart.

Language of Movement

yvonne_zhang2006 — 2024-09-04 05:06:24 UTC

The swinging trees and moving clouds represented the language of movement. The trees, leaves were shifting and twisting in the wind, birds were flying around that appear their strength and harmony with nature.
The clouds were shaping and gliding across the sky which allow me to create a imaginary story. When the clouds moved slowly or quickly, pushed by the wind, it felt as if they were playing in a game of run and catch.

The natural world offers us an opportunity to act and express our own thoughts. (Movement in the Wild: Nature as Dance Partner - the Earthbody Institute, 2017)

Language of drama

yvonne_zhang2006 — 2024-09-04 09:49:50 UTC

The Spring Valley walk let me understand how natural elements and animals interacted and resonated with each other, they performed as a live play on the stage. The wind, trees, clouds and birds all played major parts in a creative, expressive production which drawn me into the connection with the environment on a deeper level.

In this natural play, the wind leaded the movement of the trees and clouds. The leaved,branches replied with their own motions by bending, swaying, and rustling, clouds shifted slowly or quickly like play the choreographed dance, the birds chirped like the background music. (Bangarra Education Resources Mutton Bird, n.d.)

This experience taught me that drama is not just about human connections and produced acts. it can be found in nature as long as we slow down and immerse yourself in it with deep listening.

Childhood memories

yvonne_zhang2006 — 2024-09-04 10:09:43 UTC

One of my childhood memories about music is when I was a child, I loved to visit my aunt's place because my cousin always sang the nursery rhymes to me before sleep. the sound and rhyming lyrics made me feel comfortable, calm and secure.

Another memory is about movement and drama, during every summer holidays, I was playing at the river bank with my brother and neighborhood kids, We spent hours digging holes and tunnels in the soft sand and letting our imaginations run wild ,sometimes we took buckets of water to pour it into the holes to see if the water could be hold as it was in the bucket, or observed the water ran through the tunnels. We chatted and laughed all the time.

In ECE practices

yvonne_zhang2006 — 2024-09-04 10:54:47 UTC

I will create an environment that encourages quiet listening practices when we are in the room, outdoor and relaxation time each day, let kids close their eyes and concentrate on the noises around them, such as the hum of the air conditioner, the clop of the footsteps, or the rustling of leaves and the chirping of birds outdoors. Also integrate the daily mindfulness practices like breathing exercises, guided imagery, or quiet moments of thankfulness.

Movement is also valuable and visible benefits when children are moving, dancing, or walking. They can use these movements to express themselves about their ideas and emotions. As educators, we need a deeper understanding of their inner lives and connect with them in meaningful ways by studying and interacting with their motions.

I will create activities that enable children to interact with the natural environment, and foster children's creativity, empathy, and awareness of the nature around them, (Wilson, 2007) showing them all natural elements play the important roles of the performance in the stage, helping them become more conscious, sympathetic, and connected to their surroundings.

References

yvonne_zhang2006 — 2024-09-04 11:14:22 UTC

Bangarra Education Resources Mutton Bird. (n.d.). www.youtube.com. https://youtu.be/o-PV98Oshkc

MiriamRoseFoundation. (2017). DADIRRI (Official Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Video) :: 3 minute promo. In YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tow2tR_ezL8

Movement in the Wild: Nature as Dance Partner - The Earthbody Institute. (2017, March 26). https://www.theearthbodyinstitute.com/2017/03/movement-in-the-wild-nature-as-dance-partner/

‌ Wilson, R, 2007, Children, creative play, and the natural environment, in R. Wilson (edn) Nature and Young Children : Encouraging Creative Play and Learning in Natural Environments, Routledge. Ch 1, pp 1-18.