My experience demonstrates that we can gain a range of information through listening carefully to the sounds in our everyday life. Deep listening is a way to connect us with the acoustic environment (Oliveros, 2021). It provides children with an opportunity to explore the relationships among all natural or technological, intended or unintended sounds with thoughts. Listening requires a deep awareness and a suspension of judgements and prejudices (Edwards et al., 2011). Being open to unknowns and differences allows children to enrich their knowledge and develop vital skills such as communication and collaboration. In the indigenous perspective, they learn white man’s culture by listening and hope that the fellow Australians can take time to listen to them (Ungunmerr, 1988). They believe that simultaneous learning and listening brings understanding and respect to different cultures. 

As dots and lines can represent different meanings in different cultures, visual arts such as painting can be used as a technique of communication (Australian Government Department of Education and Training, 2022). Children are effective communicators because they are able to communicate their ideas, thinking and concepts through painting. By expressing their own perspective of the world in imaginative and relational ways, children can construct meanings and understandings in patterns and symbols that they engage with (Pelo, 2016). As paint can generate insights, problems and disruptions, children’s engagement with paint also provides them an opportunity to develop persistence, problem-solving skills, flexibility and creativity. Paint is something to think instead of a tool to develop children’s sensory skills (Pacini-Ketchabaw et al., 2016). The assemblage of human and non-human components during the painting process allows children to explore the capability and possibility of both the materials and themselves.

Signs are common examples of prints in our daily life. The concept of print is critical to children’s emergent literacy. It can be identified as “a set of rules” to make the texts understood by the readers in intended ways (State Government of Victoria, 2013). The main elements of concepts of print include the concept of texts, concept of book, directionality of print, mechanical features and alphabet knowledge. Children’s understanding in these concepts enhances their ability in reading and writing, which further develops their competence in receiving and conveying messages through texts. By engaging with the print materials, children are encouraged to explore texts from different perspectives and analyse the meanings (Department of Education and Training, 2016). Their awareness of the relationship between oral, written and visual representations can also be improved. Additionally, when children pay attention to sound structures of words during reading, it promotes their phonological awareness and develops their knowledge of sound-letter patterns. 

My experiment with clay leads my attention to clay’s specificities in different environments. The different responses of clay remind me of the idea that working with clay is to think about clay’s relation with a milieu (Pacini-Ketchabaw et al., 2016). In the early childhood context, children’s awareness of the changing behaviors of clay can also connect them with the surrounding environment. The connection enhances their sense of belonging to the ecology. It also leads them to think about the cause of clay’s response, which develops their understanding of clay’s demands.  Additionally, when manipulating clay, children’s fine motor skills can be developed. The unpredictable response of clay invites children to work with clay’s problems and explore how to work against them (Pacini-Ketchabaw et al., 2016). It practices children’s problem-solving skills. 

Children can also learn through dramatic play in early childhood contexts. When children enact various roles and identities, they are able to make sense of their worlds and explore or connect to wider social cultures (Flint & Adams, 2018).  They can also gain new perspectives from the character they play and make meaningful discussions during the play. The book-related dramatic play enhances children's ability to retelling stories through drama, which supports their literacy learning by expanding their ways to create and express meanings and understandings. When children engage with wordless picture books, their responsive play develops their literacy skills by transforming the story ideas from illustrations to oral language and actions. Overall, drama can provide children with a entertaining and engaging experience to foster language development and perspective-taking and imagination skills (Mages, 2018). 

As I can tell Sukki’s scare and guilt through her expressions and behaviors, children are also capable to communicate their emotions and needs through their facial expressions and body languages. Children are effective communicators as they can interact with others verbally and non-verbally (Australian Government Department of Education and Training, 2022). Babie’s smiling, crying and imitating are indications of their levels of interest in engaging with others. It is stated that children have sustained shared conversations from birth, including gestures, expressions and action (Department of Education and Training, 2016). Their first gestures and actions are the foundation of communicative competence. Additionally, the production of children’s facial expressions and body language is essential to their development in emotion recognition, which demonstrates their social and emotional competence (Parker et al., 2013). Emotional understanding skills are also associated with children’s ability in school readiness, language and literacy skills. It is critical for their future healthy social behaviors. 

·       Waving hands when greeting or saying goodbye

·       Nodding heads when saying yes

·       Shaking heads when saying no

·       Pointing to objects

This journal focuses on 6 main concepts, facial expressions and body language, deep listening, prints, painting, clay and drama. Facial expressions and body language are the most obvious indications of children’s emotions and attitudes. Deep listening is a crucial skill for children to gain different information from the sonic environment. Children’s understanding of concepts of print enables their emergent literacy skills. Their engagement with paints and clay allows them to practice their imagination and creativity. It also provides them a chance to consider arts as a way of thinking and making meanings. Drama is important for children’s development in language and cognitive skills. 

In my future practice, I will provide children with opportunities to engage with a range of materials. They are encouraged to explore their potentials and self-identity through the participation of different play experiences. They are encouraged to express their perspectives and ideas freely through various ways. By creating a supportive and entertaining learning environment, children are able to develop a range of skills that lay a foundation for their future growth and well-being.