DIVE WITH ME INTO MY CHILDHOOD HERO FANTASY- THE LEGEND OF THE CONDOR HEROES!! by ELVIA NAGARIA HIOE

MY CREATIVE RESPONSE - "I'm a princess... I have beautiful dress and hair... I'm ready for my adventure...I hear the eagle calling..."

s8169978 — 2025-07-12 10:13:49 UTC

When I was a young child, I was so obsessed with Chinese TV series dramas and how the princess dressed with beautiful long hair and a dress. I used to pretend play as a Chinese princess by tying my hair up with a thin, long fabric, as I had short hair. I put on a blanket as a dress and used a bed broom as a sword. I would walk around the house and the rooftop, singing and humming the movie song. To be honest, this assessment gave me enjoyment as an adult because I could use and think of better props than I used when I was 6 years old. I enjoyed myself as I felt like traveling with a time machine into the time when I was six. I enjoyed bringing back my childhood memory of being Yoko Princess. I wore my loose dress. I tied up my hair with a bow and put on a long wig as I have short hair. I got the broom handle as my sword, ready to fight. My creative imagination grew more and more every second I move my body, my hand, my legs, when I glance my eyes all around, when I listen to the night noise in my backyard (the crickets and the birds). Suddenly, I could hear the sound of the eagle in my mind when I put my head up to the night sky, just like when the eagle came to Yoko to give her a sign that it is time to fight. My body just moved according to my imagination. I followed the eagle to find the bad guy. I drew my sword. I was running, catching the bad guy. I jumped and flew from tree to tree. I wiggled my sword up and down, left to right, and round and round. I made a sound like a hero trying hard to save the world. Finally, I successfully fought the bad guys.

MY ANALYTICAL RESPONSE / REFLECTION - "Play Potential" and "Play Value"

s8169978 — 2025-07-12 10:13:49 UTC

Based on this assessment experience started from collecting the artefact until I played the game through drama, I learned that an outdoor or nature environment offered more opportunities for me to use all my senses (visual, auditory, vestibular, etc). When I listened to the bird, it reminded me of the eagle in the movie. When I saw the gazebo, it reminded me of Chinese architecture. When I saw the trees, it made me want to fly and jump among them. The imagination kept growing the more I used my senses and my body. As Gano and Krull said that “when children use their senses as they explore their world, they are actively building nerve connections in their brain’s pathways, which is crucial to brain development. And, when we slow down, we can also see all the learning and social skills that are being developed through play in nature” (Gano & Krull, 2018).

I also enjoyed the moment when I was in the process of choosing the props (wig for long hair, broom stick as a sword, indoor plants as the background, etc). This process involved my creativity in how I manipulated objects based on my fantasy. As Gurholt and Sanderud said in “Nature and Young children”, children would find a way to play with almost anything using some environments and materials to create a conducive creative play which is called “affordances” or “ meaningful possibilities” (Gurholt et al., 2016, as cited in Wilson, 2018, p. 11).

After I finished the play, I felt happier, relaxed, and I had more interest in doing it again. The feeling of fulfillment of the fantasy gave a positive emotion in me, which related to Freud's Psychoanalytic theory, which focused on the emotion-regulating function in make-believe play. Make-believe play helped young children to act without doubts, anxieties, and to fulfill the desired outcome in a nonthreatening context, which allows them to manage their intense emotions better (Meyer & Break, 2014, p.14).

MY FUTURE TEACHING IMPLICATION - "Lifestyle Learning" and "Nature Inspired Learning"

s8169978 — 2025-07-12 10:13:49 UTC

Before learning these units, I used to think that you have to be a music/dance/botany expert to incorporate music/sound, movement/dance, drama, and nature to children. Now I learned that the learning process is as simple as introducing a “lifestyle learning” where children weren’t really “taught”, but they were “taught” naturally by the process (TED, 2013). Art language and nature are very crucial in children’s learning. Therefore, I would definitely incorporate these elements as my teaching partners. I would love children to use their senses to observe, explore, imagine, and understand more about their world at their own pace. These could be done by conducting more activities in green space, such as initiating discussion about what they see, hear, feel, touch, smell during a nature walk, or what they think about when they see lightning or hear a pouring rain. These could spark their imagination and bring them to the next level of learning experience without any complicated, fancy, or expensive resources to do it.

ON COUNTRY VISIT - "The trees are my battlefield... the birds are my signs...I want to jump and fight..."

s8169978 — 2025-07-12 10:13:49 UTC

I went to Jack Ropper Reserve, a local playground and reserve during my break time. It is a space where both man-made playground equipment and nature are combined. When I arrived there, it was 2.15 PM. The rain just stopped. I could see a couple of people sitting at the table talking. The playground was empty. The slide, seesaw, climbing equipment, slide tunnel, and swings were covered by dots of water from the rain. The fresh, chilly air touched my face and hands. The smell of the wet grass helped me to calm down, empty my mind, and ready to absorb whatever is coming into my mind. I glanced at the playground building and the little picnic gazebo that looked like a castle. I wondered, “These look like the castle in one of my favorite Chinese movie series I used to watch when I was a young child, which is called 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes”. I walked around the “castle”. I heard the noise of the cars on the highway and the birds croaking, which sounds like the Eagle in the movie. I put my sight on the tall trees around me. My mind started to play. If I could fly and jump from tree to tree just like Yoko, the princess in “The Legend of the Condor Heroes”, that would be amazing. Then the swinging caught my eye. I wish I could swing in a high speed and draw my sword to fight the bad heroes. My imagination grew further when I saw the yellow flowers and a sculpture that looked like a horse. “That’s Yoko’s flowers!” I thought. “This is Yoko’s horse!” I thought. I felt like I wanted to be Yoko. I wanted to find the eagle. I wanted to have my sword, ride my horse, and fight the bad guys!

MY IMAGE ARTEFACT - "I venture", "I protect"...

s8169978 — 2025-07-12 10:55:35 UTC

This photo of the movie is the famous Chinese TV series in the era 90’s, The Legend of The Condor Heroes. The princess Yoko was my childhood inspiration as she is a beautiful princess. I loved to mimic her appearance (hair and dress).

Reference Lists

s8169978 — 2025-07-12 12:03:09 UTC

A C Entertainment. (2018, January 22). Return of the Condor Heroes 1983 (Andy Lau & Idy Chan) theme song 1/7 [Music]. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bibpWl1_u0w&list=RDbibpWl1_u0w&start_radio=1

FirDoney. (2022, August 13). Super Hero Landing | Sound Effect [Sound Effect]. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PSSv-myp_w

Gano, D., & Krull, S. (2020, July). Natural Sensory Learning. Community Playthings. https://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/natural-sensory-learning

Meyers, Adena B., & Laura, E. Berk. (2014). SAGE Reference: The SAGE Handbook of Play and Learning in Early Childhood. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://vucollaborate.vu.edu.au/content/enforced/1816406-ECE2008-1-2023-HWB-151670/the-sage-handbook-of-play-and-learning-in-early-childhood%20(1)%20(1).pdf?ou=2214005

n Beats. (2015, September 16). Karate Sound Effects | Female Yelling | High Quality Audio [Sound effect]. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZTfoh7XArA

Sound Dimension. (2023, September 5). Sword Fight Sound Effect [Sound Effect]. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwD4SDnL1xE

sound effect. (2022, May 29). Gong Sound Effect [Sound effect]. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaN5aiO3Qcg

TED. (2013, May 30). Victor Wooten: Music as a Language [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zvjW9arAZ0

Wilson, W. (2018). Encouraging Creative Play and Learning in Natural Environments |Third edition. 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