Interestingly, the play unexpectedly evolved into a mathematical concept as the children began to question how many acorns were inside the shakers. We made guesses based on the density of sound and the weight of the shakers.

 

Next time, I will ask family to bring used boxes for a shaker for sustainability practice.

 

In my future practice, I would like to prepare a variety of descriptive words in a different language to describe sounds, sensory conditions, and mathematical concepts. This descriptive languages will enrich what they are learning.

 

Additionally, this guessing sound play comes with the concept of "sound possibility". Children can discover new sounds based on their prior knowledge. This approach aligns with the Reggio Emilia Approach, which recognizes children as capable individuals with innate abilities and prior learning. (Bond, 2013). Children are encouraged to explore their prior experience with natural materials.

This activity also led to a holistic learning experience, including aspects of sound, volume, weight, numbers, and fine motor skills. These learnings were strongly explored through children's auditory, visual, and tactile sensory experiences as young children fundamentally learn from their senses. (Gano & Krull, 2020).

Unfortunately, lots of children had to wait for their turn for drumming.

 

Next time, I will prepare more drums for more children so that each child can participate and collaborate.

 

In the future, I would like to incorporate percussion instruments regularly into our outdoor play, as it will provide children with more opportunities to engage in diverse and dramatic musical play.

Through this activity, children are encouraged to express themselves through dramatical music play. They are given the opportunity to explore sound-making using drumming. Drumming sound is inviting and attracting to anyone, and drums are perfect instruments to play outside, allowing children to be as wild and energetic as they want. I have linked this approach to the idea of how we adapt children's play-based learning and nurture their innate musicality. (Niland,2009)

Preparation: outside
Handmade drums
(Buckets and packaging tape)
Drumsticks
Learning outcome: To express nature around with sound.

 

Interestingly, the response of children moving freely as a tree in various rain condition was diverse. Some children actively moved around. some children simply stood still, as they might have a different idea of how a tree behaves.

 

Next time, it would be beneficial to try it outside, allowing the children to have a direct sensory experience of nature. By moving the activity outdoors, we can create a more authentic connection to the natural environment.

 

In the future, I would like to regularly challenge children a range of yoga poses that are associated with the natural world as I have found the benefits of this activity in fostering a connection to the environment through the engagement of the whole body.

This experience led me to consider: can children wonder at nature by recognising the sounds of nature and moving as nature does?

 

This activity encourages children to learn about the nature around them by listening carefully and creating the movements of the nature. Children can express their understanding and learning through physical movement. This experiential approach is relating to the concept of the sense of place, where young children develop emotional connections to the people and environment around them (Wilson, 2018). By engaging with nature through sound and movement, children can deepen their connection to their environment, raising a sense of belonging and appreciation for the natural world.

During the activity, when we make the pose of a tree, rain sounds will be created with drumming, and the children will move their bodies according to the rain sounds.

Preparation: inside

The power point presentation

Smart TV

Drum with drumsticks

Learning outcome: To use their auditory sense and body movement to explore nature.

Through my experiences with children mostly outside, I have witnessed their enthusiastic responses to music and drama in a nature. This made me reflect on my current practices in outdoor settings and gain insight into how the rich natural environment can enhance children's learning in music, movement, and drama while fostering sense of place and wonder of nature. I would like to pay more attention to the outside learning space to be flexible to rearrange and recreate with natural resources and sound-making materials to accommodate child-led play, which offers endless opportunities for sensory experiences, imaginative play, and the interweaving of music, movement, and drama into their learning journeys (Wilson, 2018).