The experience of making a natural drum inspired me immediately to integrate the activity into my teaching practices. The purpose of this activity is not only to foster children's imagination and creativity, but also to promote a strong connection between children and the country.

Freedom is the best part of approaching music. Wooten (2013) demonstrated that children play music because it feels good, not for right or wrong notes. Unlike adults, children engage in playing music without fear of making mistakes, and I want to maintain their confidence in my teaching practices. 

• Children will go around the park with woven basket bags and collect natural materials such as pine cones, leaves, and stones.

Reasons

• Promoting holistic development of children: When visiting the Fitzroy Garden, I recognized that outdoor environments allow children to engage in various motor activities, promoting both mental and physical health. Moreover, Wilson (2018) stated that a natural environment is ideal for children to engage in various imaginative and creative play. Therefore, I decided to plan this "natural hunting" play.

  
  

• Allowing children to experience and explore aspects of how Indigenous people lived in the past: Hunting and gathering were crucial with the Indigenous people as they provided essential resources such as food, clothing, and shelter. Similarly, weaving is a cultural craft practice, which was used by Indigenous women to create everyday tools, ceremonial objects, and spiritual items (Hall, 2025). 

In this activity, children listen to a storytelling session about Mr. Wombat, a native Australian animal. The play space includes loose parts and critical questions. 

Reason

• By participating in the variations of birds' chirping, I learned their language through pitch and rhymes. Wooten (2013) stated that “whenever you could hear is when you probably started learning”. Similarly, Mirriam et al. (2015) highlighted that Indigenous people learned not only by asking critical questions, but also through listening and observing. Informed by these perspectives, I decided to integrate storytelling into my pedagogical practices.

• I also explored various Australian bird species, which inspired me to introduce children to native Australian animals.
  

• The child engaged confidently in singing and dancing on music with a tree branch.

  
  

What did not go as expected?

• Ensuring that all children will participate: Some of them prefer to work individually because they are introverted and need longer time to adapt. 

• Bad weather: Sometimes, the sessions need to be indoor due to bad weather or seasonal changes. 

• Limited outdoor opportunity: According to Wallin (2019), there is no outdoor play space in urban areas. Therefore, bringing loose parts and natural materials into class offer children to engage in natural play indoors.

Future Pedagogical Practices

• Integrating more music sessions to give children opportunities to improve their skill and confidence. 

• Encouraging children to help their shy peers by modelling supportive and motivative actions when each team is performing. This promotes inclusivity and compassion. 

• Step 5: Teaching children the Indigenous culture through the activity, especially weaving and hunting. 

• A wombat puppet.

• A big blanket for seats.

• Loose parts: dried leaves, firewood, flowers and stones.

• Printable Puppets: Sun, moon, weather and food. 

• Choosing about 3 - 4 children to keep food.

Step 2: Introducing the wombat to children

• Children get to know Mr. Wombat

• Sharing its routines, food, and some characteristics.

• Using the first voice to make it sounds like a dialogue.

Step 3: Storytelling - A Wombat’s Diary

• Moving the wombat puppet and using printable puppets to represent the weather/seasons/necessities.

• Asking critical questions to encourage children to learn. 

• Letting the wombat come and interact with children. Integrating real reaction and emotions to make the experience more vivid.

• Then, ending the story by moving the wombat back to sleep.

Step 4: Reflection

• Children shared what they learned: Seasonal changes, native animals, and compassion.

• Highlighting that the Indigenous people learned by giving awareness and listening. 

Classification:

• Red: Summary and Reasons

• Blue: Reference List

• Green: Evidence

• White: Reflection

• Children engaged in both fine and gross motor activities. They walked on the grass field, picked up natural objects and explored various types of flowers.

• The weather was warm enough with a slight sunshine.

• Children engaged in collaboration effectively.

  
  

Possible Problems and solutions in future pedagogical practices

• Bad weather: Before walking to the park, I will check the weather forecast.

• Thorny pine cones and tree branches: Removing all thorny pine cones on the ground before starting the activity.

• Insects: I will not let children come close to flower gardens to avoid bees and remind them to not roll or walk with bare feet on grass fields.

• Careless behaviors: For instances, throwing pine cones to others. Strict supervision is compulsory. 

Hall A. (2025, April 24). The Signficance of Traditional Indigenous Fibre Crafts. Yarn. https://www.yarn.com.au/blogs/yarn-in-the-community/the-significance-of-traditional-indigenous-fibre-crafts?srsltid=AfmBOoqBH5j0WRxrmX_MAS8z8VOHKW7UTfUYrtTkT-zaNx6iwTwCFBgM

Miriam, Ungunmerr R., & Baumann (2015). Dadirri: Inner Deep Listening and Quiet Still Awareness. Dadirri Disability Services. https://www.dadirri.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Dadirri-Inner-Deep-Listening-M-R-Ungunmerr-Bauman-Refl1.pdf

Wallin L. M. (2019). Let's Play Outside: The Importance of Pretend Play in Natural Settings. Community Playthings. https://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/the-importance-of-pretend-play-in-natural-settings#:~:text=When%20children%20are%20given%20the%20time%20and%20space%20to%20play,to%20cognitive%20and%20linguistic%20growth

Wilson, R. A. (2018). Nature and young children: Encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments (3rd ed.). 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

Wooten V. (2013, May). Music as a Language [Video]. TEDxGabriolaIsland. https://youtu.be/2zvjW9arAZ0?si=We8nxMjRy71dJ2aC 

• Children learned seasonal changes by noticing signs of nature, including weather, flowers, leaves and trees.

• They learned day and night by observing the movement of the sun and moon.

What needed to improve?

• I did not use puppets and were replaced by images.

• My narrative was not fluent and engaging. I need to improve my speaking skill.

• My facial expression was emotionless due to lack of confidence. So, this is what I need to improve in my future teaching practices.