Music is connected to my experience by the way the sound attracted to me in nature. Like when I follow the sound that I hear, it’s children’s instinct, children always curious about the animals sound and want to find where they live. And I encourage children to create the nature’s sound (bird, wind, water). Connect to the Aboriginal perspective, Maribyrnong river have a deep connect with the Aboriginal people. This place is where they gather and look for food. And music is a traditional method that they used for story telling and knowledge. According to Hamm (2015), country is not a generalised or undifferentiated type of place, country is a living entity with a yesterday, today and tomorrow with a consciousness, and a will toward life.

Movement also have an important role in my experience. When I created movement and class and watch movement in the nature, I understand how strongly movement expresses meaning. In the classroom activity, I freely moved in music, nothing to shape my movement. Besides, when I go to my country visit, connect myself to nature, I can see different movements of different things in the environment. Wilson (2008) claims that the natural world offers an incredible wealth of sensory experiences and open- ended materials for motoric manipulation. I believe that nature gives students good opportunities to encourage their movement.

Drama is the element that can connect everything together. My experience during the class session gives me the knowledge about how movement and music interact with drama, it can create the whole story. In class, I pretend an imaginary friend to play with me. And in my assessment 2, I create a drama to tell about me creative project. In the game, children will pretend play to help the tree happier. I choose drama as a way for children as I watch the video Journey to Healesville - learning through drama (n.d), I see that through drama, children can improve their problem - solving and develop their imagination. 

During the class sessons, I have more knowledge about how music, movement and drama related to children’s journey. And how natural environment supports children in their experience of self development. According to ACECQA (2022), this is evident when children use play to investigate and explore nature and natural environment, educators promote this learning for all children when they provide children with access to a rage of natural materials in their environment. Connect the music, movement and drama in nature encourage children to develop their senses and learn new skills. 

Material: youtube video

https://youtu.be/cJQQrI7nCeY?si=dEG1Hut-ngzBDd-F

Step1: Ask children about the excursions, do they like it? How do they feel? What sound they hear

or

Ask children about their experience when they go to the park with family.

Step 2: Introduce the activity to children

They will make movements/ create actions that base on the sound of the environment (wind, water, human, birds, transports)

 And follow the sound to show actions

Step 3: Ask children to create the actions base on the environment in the park

Wind

Birds

Water

Human

Transport

Step 4: When children are ready, turn on the sound, join the game with them

Step 5: Children makes actions by following the sound in the video

For example: if they hear the wind, do the action that represent the wind. Same with the rest

Step 6: After the game, celebrate with children and ask they to perform it again together. Children can share the different sounds they hear cause there are a lot of sounds.

A thin paper (or a silk)

Bottle (some water inside)

Step 1: Remind children about the time they go to the park, communicate with them and ask them to share the experience

Step 2: Ask children to image the sound and make it. They can use the objects to create the sound

Step 4: Introduce the activity to children

Teacher will sing a song, follow the words in the song (birds, water, human, wind), students will make sounds about it.

Step4: Sing the song, and children starts making the sound following the words in the song

For example: when teacher sing the wind, they make wind sound. Same for the rest.

The song:

we went to a place

oh what place is it?

Maribyrnomg River Trail (name of the place they visit)

it was amazing

but but but there was was a lonely tree

lon lon lonely tree

why are you standing here

just just just just by yourself

I can bring you friends

how how can?

b b b is birds, do you want some birds

(children makes bird sound)

the birds flying aaround

oh.. but he needs some more friends! how can we help him?

can we bring him water?

(children makes water sound)

watering the tree

lalalalalala the tree is growing up

oh oh no nooo

wait, but how about the wind

(children makes wind sound)

the wind’s blowing around

oh oh oh oh

oh maybe bring him some human?

(children making human sound like footstep…)

hi tree, I’m (children’s name)

lalalalala he is happy now

with with with with new friends, the tree has more friends (children make the sounds)

no no no no more lonely, this is happy tree.

Step 5: Celebrate after the song, children perform the it together.

Loose parts

Step 1: Introduce to story to children

“We have an adventure today. And now we are predenting to be animals in nature”

Step 2: Ask children what animals need

Step 3: Divide children into different groups due to which animals they like (bird, fish, rabbit, elephant). They will be the families in each group

Step 4: In small groups, ask children to explore how their animals move, what they eat and where they live.

Step 3: Create different sences for children to solve the problem

For example: “Oh it’s raining, what should we do?”

Step 4: Children create family and show how they live

Step 5: Each group show their animals’s movemnts, sound and live

Step 6: Discussion about how children think the animals feel in their homes, how they know what animals need.

During the movement sesson, I learn that movement (dance) is a perfect way for emotional expression. Before the class, I was a shy person who will never dance in front of a lot of people. But I have more confidence after the class, as Bianca said “no judgment in this classroom”, and the theater makes me more comfortable in my movement. I had a lot of fun when I dance with my friends, and do the Dragon dance, which is the Asian culture in the big festival. In overall, I learn how movement encourage confidence, joy and body awareness. 

During the drama class, I learn more about how pretend play support children in their experience. When I pretend to have a new friends to play with me, I feel like I come back to my childhood, play with my teddy bear. And I also know that drama is a creative way to making the learning experience more meaningful. When I use role play in my experience, I notice that how I see my little cousins play when our adults in the family are busy, and that’s how show their creativity and imagination.

City Park Sounds For Relaxation | White Noise & Study Aid. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved September 16, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJQQrI7nCeY

Edwards, C. P., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. E. (2011). The hundred languages of children: The Reggio Emilia experience in transformation (3rd ed.). https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/detail.action?doclD=820317

 Hamm, C. (2015). Walking with place: Storying reconciliation pedagogies in early childhood education. Canadian, 56-66. https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=26024c46-924d-32e9-a217-a228a5b86642

Vic Gov. (n.d). Journey to Healesville: learning through drama - teaching demonstration. https://www.vic.gov.au/literacy-teaching-toolkit-early-childhood/videos/journey-to-healesville 

Wilson, R. A. (2008). Children, creative play, and the natural environment. Nature and young children: Encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments.