1. Music – "Nature's Echoes"

   Utilising repurposed instruments to make their own version of nature sounds.

   
   

2. Movement – "Dance of all creatures"

   A "living ecosystem" is created when children move their bodies in the manner of kangaroos, birds, frogs and butterflies.

   
   

3. Drama – “The Mystery of Imperceptible Sounds”

   Children play the roles of Wind and Stream to recreate a nature story, creating a special piece of music from nature – wind, water and forest leaves.

The three experiences “Nature’s Echoes”, “Dance of All Creatures” and “The Mystery of Imperceptible Sounds” were designed for 3–6-year-olds to extend the curiosity and interest that they demonstrated in Assessment 2, when I observed children’s love of exploring sounds, movements and stories from nature. From observing wind, water and leaves, I saw great potential in helping children listen, recreate and role-play to understand the connection between themselves and their environment. All three experiences are closely linked to, specifically, LO2: “Children are connected with and contribute to their world” and LO4: “Children are confident and involved learners”, and support LO5: “Children are effective communicators” by children expressing their ideas through a variety of art forms (AGDE, 2022). In addition, these activities reflect Schafer’s view that the natural world is a “soundscape” that humans need to learn to listen to (2009); meanwhile Bowman emphasises the role of movement arts in allowing children to express their emotions and ideas through their bodies (2018); and Victoria State Government argues that “drama is the great medium for assisting children’s knowledge” (2018, 4:40). The application of three different art forms not only helps children develop their language, movement, and creative thinking skills but also fosters a sense of sustainability, encouraging children to become active learners and care about the world.

Learning Objectives:

This exercise enables children aged 3 to 6 to listen to nature's noises and replicate them using their bodies and recyclable objects. This promotes children's connection to the natural environment and creative expression, which corresponds to LO2: "Children are connected with and contribute to their world" and LO5: "Children are effective communicators" (AGDE, 2022). The exercise is also evocative of Dadirri, an indigenous idea that promotes "deep listening" in order to connect spiritually with the environment (Ungunmerr-Baumann 2002).

Materials:

• Nature sound clip (from ASM2)

• Recycle materials: plastic rice/pebble paper boxes, straws, plastic cups, etc.

  
  

  How to do:

  
  

Step 1: Listening to natural sounds: Gather the children in a circle, hearing the nature sound, and ask them to determine what sound it is.

Step 2: Exploring body noises: Instruct children to use their hands to pat their thighs, snap their fingers, and so on to make sounds "similar" to those in the movie.

Step 3: Exploring material noises: Give each kid one or two discarded items and invite them to tap, shake, and rip them to hear the sounds.

Step 4: Group performance: The whole class "plays music" to a basic beat while the instructor taps or claps (1-2-3, halt).

Step 5: Conclusion: The educator enquires, "Which sound sounds most natural?" and "Which sound makes you happy?" .

During the music activity, both children were interested in listening to natural sounds and trying to create music with recycled materials. This was an expected result because they were able to recognize and distinguish sounds such as wind or water. However, because there were only two children, the group performance was quite fast and sometimes the volume was too loud, which interrupted their concentration. Next time, I could design hand signals to control the volume, and clearly assign roles so that each child would take on a specific “sound” and then combine them together. In the future, I could apply this by setting up a fixed “sound corner” in the classroom where children have access to recycled materials that make sounds and practice listening, in line with Schafer’s observation that listening to environmental sounds helps children develop their ability to listen and pay attention purposefully (2009).

Learning objectives:

This practice promotes children's creation of the movement of animals, therefore enhancing gross motor skills and understanding of biodiversity, which endorses LO3: “Children have a strong sense of wellbeing” (AGDE, 2022). Furthermore, “Dance-play activities promote young children's development of balance and motor skills while fostering creativity” (Dance Teaching Ideas, 2020, para. 01). I also use the background music “Mutton Bird” to enable children to experience rhythm, fostering a seamless connection between movement and creativity in music (Bangarradance theatre, 2015).

Materials:

• Animal picture cards: kangaroo, bird, frog, butterfly.

• Background music, free space to move

How to do:

Step 1: Game introduction: The educator explains, "Each animal moves in its own way – do you want to be one of them?"

Step 2: Animal experience: The educator displays:

- Kangaroo card: prompting pupils to leap high with both legs.
- Bird card: Children stretch their arms and soar about.
- Frog card: crouch down low, then spring up with a little jump, saying “ribbit, ribbit”.
- Butterfly card: softly clap their hands like wings.

Step 3: Children choose their own animal and take a role.

Step 4: Conclusion: Children sit down and share, "Which animal do you prefer to be?" and "What do you consider natural?"

Learning Objectives:

In this activity, children take on the roles of wind, stream, and leaves to reenact a short story, combining dialogue, movement, and sound. As the video Journey to Healesville said, “Drama is a safe space for children to problem solve and to bounce ideas off one another” (Victoria State Government, 2018, 4:30), children are free to express the “singing” of nature. The activity responds to LO5: “Children are effective communicators” (AGDE, 2022).

How to do:

Step 1: Short story introduction: Educator start: “In the green forest, there was a sleeping stream. One day, the wind came and woke up the stream…”

Step 2: Role assignment:

• Educator: Storyteller + Stream

• Child 1: Wind

• Child 2: Tree/Leaf

  
  

Step 3: Acting:

Educator tell the story; when it comes to each character’s part, the children do the action and sound.

Step 4: Conclusion: Ask the child, “Which sound do you like best?” and “Do you think nature can sing?”

The movement activity was quite successful, as both children enjoyed playing the role of animals, especially familiar ones like frogs and birds. They demonstrated gross motor skills through jumping, flying and crawling, as expected. However, one child was a bit shy and did not move much, which made the interaction uneven. Next time, I might add a warm-up session so that both children can get used to the rhythm. This activity showed me that even with small groups, dance-play still has dual benefits: it trains balance and motor skills and expands imagination—just as Dance Teaching Ideas has been confirmed in research on art education (2020). Therefore, in the future, I might incorporate animal movements into daily transition activities, for example, walking in a line like a turtle or flying like a bird, to exercise physically while reducing disruption in the classroom.

In the drama activity, two children played the roles of wind and leaves, and I played the role of storyteller and stream. The children were very excited about the climax when all three created “jungle music”, as expected. However, at one point, one child forgot the lines and just did the actions, which led to me having to provide more prompts. Next time, I might prepare illustrated flashcards to aid memory and let the children switch roles to increase language practice. From this experience, I realized that drama is not only fun but also develops imagination, language and cooperation, in line with Victorian Government 's view that early childhood drama fosters storytelling and collective creativity (2023). In future ECE practice, I might expand by using simple story maps for children to retell the story creatively to help them develop coherent storytelling skills, the ability to remember the sequence of events and the ability to communicate confidently in groups.

Bangarradance theatre. (2015). Mutton Bird [Video]. Youtube. https://www.bangarra.com.au/learning/education-resources/classroom-resources/mutton-bird-2008/

Bowman, A. (2018, March 20). Movement, Sound, Play | Artifact Dance Project | TEDxTucson. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrgpeuPbp-I

Dance Teaching Ideas. (2020, June 7). Creative Dance for Early Childhood. Dance Teaching Ideas. https://danceteachingideas.com/creative-dance-movement-for-toddlers/

Victoria State Government (2018). Literacy Teaching Toolkit - Journey to Healesville [Video]. Vimeo. https://player.vimeo.com/video/272517658

Victorian Government (VIC). (2023, November 23). Journey to Healesville: learning through drama – teaching demonstration. Victorian Government (VIC). https://www.vic.gov.au/literacy-teaching-toolkit-early-childhood/videos/journey-to-healesville

Ungunmerr-Baumann, M.-R. (2002). Dadirri - Inner deep listening and quiet still awareness. In Emmaus Productions. https://www.dadirri.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Dadirri-Inner-Deep-Listening-M-R-Ungunmerr-Bauman-Refl1.pdf

Schafer, M. (2009). Listen. National Film Board of Canada. https://www.nfb.ca/film/listen/

Wilson, R. A. (2018). Nature and young children : encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315148533/nature-young-children-ruth-wilson