I was inspired by my recent country visit,as i walked alone the nature and i was deeply connected to the harmonious sounds of the birds chirping .This sound effect made me feel relaxed, calm my senses and help me to connect to the nature .This experience gave me an idea to plan an music session for the children by using birds music in the background ,allowing children to engage in creative way through natural sounds by using instruments such as rattles,hand bells and shakers. Letting the children to follow the rhythm of the music by beginning to start slow,then moving to medium and fast ,Its an great opportunity for children to engage movement,rhythm of the music and sound in a meaningful way.

What i need for my experience:

-Ipad /Speaker

-Musical Instruments

-Inviting Approach -to ask children to come and join on the mat for music experience.

Summary of the experience:

This experience was a sensory integration and music activity, where children used musical instruments and listen to the bird chirping music and follow the rhythm of the music by playing slow,medium and fast to beat of the music in the background.The children explore the rhythm,expressiveness and sound in a fun and interactive way.

Rationale/Justification-

How it relates to my country visit :

I was inspired by my country visit where I was connected to nature and bird sounds this made me think about this experience.I thought this experience could bring the same auditory experience, for the children where It might change into a visual experience for them and also it connected to my personal appreciation for natural sounds where I grew up in an calm environment.This Activity aligns with Early years learning Framework(EYLF),similar to outcome 1 and outcome 2. The children are connected to their world through rhythm of the music and enhancing their auditory and collaborative play with the music .

Theoretical perspectives:

According to Reggio Emilia approach , "one hundred languages" available for expressing perspectives of the world, and one of those languages is music. While all of the arts (visual, music, dance, drama) are considered equally important in Reggio schools, the visual arts have been particularly central in the development of the approach.(Hanna, Wendell, 2014)

Hanna, Wendell (2014) highlighted that Functional musical play is when children primarily use their bodies to sing, clap, play instruments, and move to music.

Aboriginal Perspectives:

This experience related to Aboriginal culture where there is a strong connection to the land and natural elements. the bird play a significant role which often symbolises the wisdom and guidance to the Aboriginal culture .

Reflection

What went as expected?

The musical session went well as planned, the children were highly engaged and curious to follow the rhythm of the bird music. They enjoyed and experimented with musical instruments.

What did not go as expected?

Everything went as planned and there were no issues during this experience. The children enjoyed the experience.

What might you do different next time?

Next time, I would like to add a visual element by showing the children videos of bird sounds , this allow them to connect deeply to the activity.

How might you use this growth in your future practice of early childhood education?

The walk helped me understand how nature inspires music.In future, I would like to continue to use nature sounds and different languages to create learning opportunities for children to explore creative music projects.

I was inspired by the whispers of the water waves, I felt connected to this creek and it creates music through nature. I could still remind that the flow of the water waves made me joyful and calmed my senses. This experience made me think of an idea to use colourful scarves to imitate the movement of water waves for the children so they can dance along with the water wave music

in the background.I want children to engage through nature music and movement and I want them to make a connection to nature in a fun and meaningful way.

What do i need for my experience?

I pad /speaker

Colourful Scarfs

Welcoming approach -ask the children to dance like a flowing water using scarfs

Summary of my experience:

The children engaged in music and movement experiences inspired by the creek (flow of water waves).They used colourful scarves by listening to music they moved freely and acted like waves in their own unique ways. This experience supports them to express, and make connections to nature and developing motor skills through movements.

Rationale /Justification

How its relates to my country visit:

I was personally inspired by connection to the creek in my country visit, I love the way water flows from one end to another.I thought that scarves would be similar experience for the children to explore as a water wave by moving freely to the rhythm in their own way. This experience is a sensory and allows children to connect to their bodies.This experience is aligns with multiple EYLF outcomes,

Theoretical perspective :

This experience aligns with Reggio Emilia approach where Filippo explained, is a three-dimensional experience. Children are invited to experiment with movements in space as a means of exploring their active embodiment of sound and within the common matrix connecting sound, space, and movement.(Wendell Hanna, 2017)

Aboriginal perspective:

The Children used the scarves , they can interpret the way the water waves flow through the movement.This experience relates to the Aboriginal culture where it has a spiritual connection to the water, natural elements and land.

Reflection

What went as expected?

The experience went well as planned, they participated actively with lots of enthusiasm. Children also enjoyed using the scarves as a prop and followed the flow of music and creating expressive movements.

What did not go as expected?

The experience went smoothly but other children were distracting the group as they didn't have permission from the parents. Apart from that the children involved in the experience actively.

What might you do different next time?

For next time, before the experience, I would like to show the pictures of water waves or creek book this could help children to connect with the movements of water waves

How might you use this growth in your future practice of early childhood education?

From this experience, I have learnt that this movement activity has both nature and sensory elements and also encouraged me to create a space where children can freely express themselves. In future practice, I would take this as an inspiration from nature using temporal arts to promote holistic development in children and also to embed same experience with children by adding ribbons along with scarves to stimulate them to engage in the rhythm of the movement.

As I was walking along the Creek, I was inspired by the trees swaying in the wind .I was imagined that the wind was the music director , Leading the orchestra of drama through movement and sound. This imaginative experience made me think of using wooden sticks for interactive play experience where the children tap the sticks in a rhythm like a body percussion then transform into characters like bunny, bee, unicorn, elephant, butterfly and many more as instructed by me. This imaginative play promotes children to explore their senses ,their bodies and creativity along with the capability to follow the cycle and pattern through actions.

What do i need for my experience?

Wooden sticks

A song -I will sing

Inviting approach -sit on the mat and go on an adventure

Summary of the experience :

Through this experience, the children used sticks to create a pattern like tapping where they were acting to be different animal characters by following through the actions.I showed them by singing to the rhythm along with tapping sticks then the children followed my instructions by tapping along with me and became cheerful characters .This experience almost lasted for ten mins as the children were asked to repeat it, it showing how the children were having fun and were interested in this activity.

Rationale/Justification –

How it relates to my country visit :

This activity was inspired by my country visit , where the trees were swaying to the wind from side to side. I loved the way the wind was directing the trees and nature around us. This experience made me connect to nature and I thought that these sticks could be similar experience for the children to explore with wooden sticks to create drama using movements and sound and they enjoyed pretending to be different animal characters.This experience aligns with early years learning framework(EYLF) where children connection to the world,supporting overall well being ,learning to problem solve ,communication through sound and body movement.

Theoretical perspective:

This experience aligns with Wilson(2018), "Creative play in a natural area often takes the form of

role playing (e.g. pretending to be an animal, gardener, or explorer)".

Children playing in the child-constructed enclosures used
a variety of self-selected natural materials as play props, and seemed to enjoy the sense of control
they had over their play setting.(Wilson, 2018)

Aboriginal perspective:

This experience relates to Aboriginal culture where it has a connection to the land and environment, using the wooden sticks as a storytelling through movements and creating a drama while expressing themselves as animal characters.

Reflection

What went as expected?

This experience went well as planned, the children enjoyed the imaginative play through rhythm and followed the pattern by tapping sticks and then turning into animal characters .the children were really concentrated and excited throughout the experience and they asked me to repeat it again.

What did not go as expected?

Everything went as planned but few children are shy and don't join the session.The children who participated in this experience, they enjoyed it thoroughly

What might you do differently next time?

For next time, I will do the same session by adding more natural material to the experience and also do this experience outdoors by introducing nature sounds.For those who didn't join the session, I will try to do one on one with them so they can open up themselves.

How might you use this growth in your future practice of early childhood education?

This experience , I have understand that materials like sticks can promote children movement and storytelling. in future I will keep using same resources and aim to create a positive and supportive learning space where all children are happy to join and explore the activity.

Through this unit I have also learned how to engage special needs children with the three temporal arts. children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Blind conditions or any other sensory needs also can engage and participate with music, drama and movement in their learning activities . These three elements have inspired me to be more creative to incorporate them into my everyday teaching .