Image 1 → Through my experience with this artefact I learnt the importance of movement and dance as a means for one to express themselves as well as make sense of the world around them. I believe that providing children the opportunities to engage in movement and dance is extremely important. ‘Moving and dancing are in fact ways of thinking, in other words – forms of intelligence – that might have nothing to do with words’ (Biddiss, 2015). ‘ Dance expresses feelings, tells stories, demonstrates strength and power, connects people, creates ritual and like art and music, it communicates individual and collective experience in a way that words sometimes can’t’ (Early Childhood Ireland, 2014). In my future practice as an educator, I would try to facilitate both movement and dance in multiple ways such as getting children to create their own movements to learn about their body and how they prefer to move, giving children prompts such as reading a story and having children act it out with their body. I also believe that movement outdoors is just as important, the movement and dance children can create and engage with in nature, through the sounds they hear, the things they see, what they feel etc;.

Image 2 → Through my experience with this artefact I gained a more profound understanding of drama and in particular the dramatics in make believe play, since I personally engaged in this. I came to understand that this type of play is very important for children as those ‘who participate in complex, collaborative, pretend play are better able to regulate their emotions and implement creative problem-solving’ (Wallin, 2019). According to Vygotsky ‘the creation of imaginary scenes using substitute objects aids young children in distinguishing internal ideas from concrete reality’ (Meyers & Berek, 2014). This means that children are able to see beyond what that object is and give the object a new meaning according to their needs or wants, such as turning a stick into a wand. This also relates to the affordance theory that ‘environments and objects within them have values and meanings that are unique to the person perceiving them’ (Play Scotland, n.d.). In my future practice as an educator, I will make sure to provide children the space in which they can experience various forms of drama and have multiple possibilities for imaginary and pretend play. This is because ‘environments where children play have an effect on them and the quality of their play’ (Wallin, 2019) . I will also keep in mind to take children outside as ‘play that occurs in greener, more “natural” spaces can be different, and possibly more complex and developmentally beneficial for young children’ (Wallin, 2019).

Image 3 → Through my experience with this artefact I was able to understand the importance of sounds and music and how impactful both are. I came to realise that listening, intently, makes one aware of their surroundings, you are able to pick up things that you wouldn’t otherwise, they would pass you by. There are so many things that we probably fail to catch in our daily lives, not because we can't hear them but because we don't listen. In my future practice as an educator I will make sure to incorporate ‘inner, deep listening and quiet, still awareness’ (Ungunmerr, 1988) and quiet time. This would give children the opportunity to soak everything in, really appreciate nature and develop spatial awareness when they are outside. Getting children to complete tasks in a quiet manner will allow them to focus solely on that task without getting distracted, it will also provide children with the space and time to process their learnings. I will also incorporate different types of music and sounds in my teaching practice so children can engage in multiple experiences.