During the first week of my professional practice, I got acquainted with classroom routines, the children, educators, and families. As an educational leader, I introduced myself to all the staff members and shared my philosophy and vision for the service (Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECEQA), 2019). I familiarised myself with the centre's policies, daily routines, and emergency procedures. I observed their daily routines, environments, and interactions in both classrooms. During drop-off and pick-up times, I introduced myself to families and shared my goals and responsibilities at the centre (ADGE, 2022).

In my first week, I felt a mix of anxiety and excitement in the new environment. I applied my knowledge to enhance the children's learning. I gained confidence as I became more familiar with the children, the environment, and my team. Looking at the learning environment and developing a plan to adjust the furniture in the upcoming week was an initiative to create an engaging environment to foster children's cognitive development and creativity (ACECQA, 2019). Over the weekend, I reviewed my daily journal entries and collected feedback from the centre managers and team members. I also checked the monthly calendar and organized an activity to create handprints with the children (Expert Program Management (EPM), 2019). On World Environment Day, I created a welcoming environment for the children by displaying resources and using transition songs to invite them to the table. The children enjoyed making handprints using green and blue colours, which improved their sensory skills. Working closely with the educators throughout the week to plan activities following the EYLF planning cycle, considering each child's interests and needs, was an effective way to start developing relationships with colleagues (ADGE, 2022). I was grateful to be part of such a talented team and determined to create positive learning experiences for the children. In the future, I plan to reflect on my practices and set goals for improvement continually (Williams, 2020).

Evidence: Children create handprints on World Environment Day using blue and green colours.

 Evidence: Children experience sand foam by dipping their hands and squeezing the foam.

In the second week of my work placement, I conducted a spontaneous experiment using baking soda and vinegar, which was a success. The children were thoroughly engaged and excited by the experiment, particularly fascinated by how it involved their senses of touch, feel, and sound. Watching their reactions as they explored the fizzing and bubbling reactions was incredibly rewarding. Their curiosity and enthusiasm made the experience enjoyable and reaffirmed the importance of hands-on, sensory-based activities (Garvis et al., 2018).

I have discovered that incorporating a diverse array of tactile materials, such as water, food colours, different textures, cereals, and sponges, creates a stimulating environment for learning (ADGE, 2022). Using these resources has sparked children's interests and active participation in experiences. It also provides enthusiasm for children to interact with each other and develop their relationships with peers and educators. This has motivated me to integrate more sensory experiences into the curriculum program. I am eager to add sensory experiences to enhance their learning, growth, and senses (Arthur et al., 2018).

During the sensory board experience, I discovered that most children needed help concentrating on the activities since they were overloaded with different textures (Epstein, 2014). I, therefore, planned to organise sensory activities more carefully in the upcoming week to ensure they weren't unduly stimulating. 

Evidence: Children got engage in cereal pool to experience the sense of crunch sound and touch.

Evidence: Children washed the ocean animal toys using dishwashing liquid and water.

Using the inquiry curriculum from week 2, I expanded my sensory exploration journey to include animals and strengthen their sensory skills through animal-based experiences. I guided the children in combining different animals to create patterns on paper based on their footprints (Arthur et al., 2018). The children found exploring footprint textures and the tactile feelings of wet and dry animals quite interesting (Duhn, 2012). Including water to bathe the toy animals deepens their understanding of cause and effect and texture exploration.

I felt energised when introducing animals to children's learning experiences. My observation of children actively exploring the different animals and interacting with animals during each experience was rewarding in developing their sensory experiences and animal recognition (Davis & Degotardi, 2015). I have found that in some instances, educators may need help to provide clear instructions for children, which hinders the effectiveness of sensory exploration activities. Some children prefer to avoid mud and paint activities, which limits their engagement. So, instead of paints, cocoa powder was used to bathe toy animals, and food colours were used for colouring. Next time, I'll be mindful of each child's distinctive sensory preferences and offer various sensory choices to enrich their sensory exploration experiences (Casey & Robertson, 2019).

Evidence: Children dipping animals in the mud and cleaning them with sponges on Mud Day.

Evidence: Children creating the footprints of the animals using paints.

In my professional practice, I designed a curriculum for a nature and material exploration week. This curriculum was aimed at stimulating children's interest in exploring their senses using different natural materials. As I became more familiar with the children's interests and routines, the activities planned for the morning worked out effectively. As an early childhood teacher, providing guidance to the room educators was effective as they understood the intentional teaching process and the significance of the physical environment for children to explore individually or in groups (ACECQA, 2017). Natural materials are open-ended, and children showed significant interest in learning and collecting them from outdoor areas, leading to child-led play and learning (Arthur et al., 2018).

During the week, I engaged children in unstructured activities such as collecting natural materials, watering plants, planting seeds, and using a nature sensory board. These activities kept the children engaged and allowed them to initiate experiences and interact with their peers. It was a valuable week for the children as it promoted sensory exploration and natural materials through various open-ended experiences. The activities accommodated the diverse needs of the children and helped them understand the importance of sustainability (Davis & Degotardi, 2015). In addition, they promoted positive social interactions and sustained shared thinking.

One challenge I faced was the limited outdoor space at the service. However, I overcame this by incorporating child-friendly natural materials collected from a nearby park. In the future, I plan to create a sensory garden and include experiences that explore children's creativity using natural materials, such as rock painting.

Evidence: Children collecting the natural materials from an outdoor area to create the natural shakers.

Evidence: Children watering the plants to take care of the veggies and flowers in outdoor space.

During the fourth week of my professional practice, we focused on science by implementing chemical experiments and hands-on learning to continue the children's sensory exploration journey. This week's main aim was to encourage independent exploration and curiosity through scaffolding (Vygotsky's theory) (Nolan & Raban, 2015). Before each experiment, we discussed the required materials and planned the day, giving the children an idea of what to expect and familiarizing them with the resources. I also used open-ended questions like "What do you think we are doing today?" and "What do you think will happen when vinegar and baking soda are mixed?" to encourage their critical thinking and curiosity (Robson, 2019).

The main strength of this week was allowing children to explore their senses of touch, smell, sight, and sound. Most of the children were active and curious to discover what would happen (ADGE, 2022). They enjoyed exploring their touch sense by interacting with the materials. The learning space was filled with excitement and laughter as the children learned about chemical reactions. During the magic milk experiment, the children gasped and were stunned as soon as the colour patterns were spread across the milk. Children initiated the experiment by dipping the cotton tip into the milk (children’s agency). Children interacted with educators with many questions and constructed the learning process of chemical reactions (Lange et al., 2019).

Initially, I worried the children wouldn't enjoy science week. However, they loved the science experiments and experimented with vinegar, baking soda, soda water, skittles, food colours, milk, etc. 

Evidence: Children conducted a magic milk experiment using the food colours, dish soap and milk.

Evidence: Children doing the skittles experiment using skittles and learned about diffusion process.

In my professional practice, I incorporated Aboriginal resources such as books, sand, prints, wood, symbols, and stones to help children understand the significance of NAIDOC week and the cultures, histories, and contributions (NAIDOC, 2023).  In week 6, I celebrated NAIDOC Week by delving into Aboriginal arts, cultures, and languages while honouring and respecting elders (NAIDOC, 2023). Considering the children's sensory exploration journey, I integrated paint, sand, cardboard, books, coloured pasta, sticks, and Aboriginal music. I was excited to discuss the supply of Aboriginal resources with the centre manager earlier this week. My initiative to establish the foyer and transform the classroom space into a dedicated area for an Aboriginal corner effectively asserted my leadership (Rodd, 2013). Our prior discussions about including Aboriginal resources have opened up diverse ways to provide varied learning experiences. This helped children better understand Aboriginal shapes, colours, patterns, and stories (Becerra-Lubies, 2021).

I was eager to introduce Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture by incorporating Aboriginal books, sticks, and symbols and acknowledging the country. Throughout the week, the children engaged in various experiences, such as dancing to Aboriginal music, threading red, black, and yellow pasta, and painting a rainbow serpent. Also, posting posts for families to celebrate NAIDOC Week and share their stories or experiences promoted collaborative partnerships and positive relationship development (ADGE, 2022). I felt a sense of achievement as the children were emotionally connected to the activities, exploring their senses and learning more about Aboriginal culture (ADGE, 2022).

Evidence: Children recreated Aboriginal symbols in the sand to learn more about Aboriginal symbol and its meaning.

Evidence: Children painted the boomerangs using recycled cardboard.

During NAIDOC Week, the children were highly interested in pictures and letters while reading books. So, I discussed this with the other educators, and we decided to dedicate week seven to alphabet and number activities to improve their language, literacy and numeracy skills (Fellowes & Oakley, 2020). Throughout the week, the children explored a variety of letters and numbers both indoors and outdoors, engaging their senses of sight, touch, and sound. To develop their sensory skills, we used sand, sponges, blocks, paints, chalk, and textured books. Multiple senses were engaged in different learning spaces to support their holistic development (Kearns, 2021). To avoid overwhelming the children, we provided resources one at a time and focused on their interests, encouraging them to enjoy the activities. Seeing the children interacting with each experience was satisfying; creating a vibrant environment and fostering their enthusiasm for learning was enjoyable (ADGE, 2022). Overall, it was a successful week integrating literacy, numeracy, and sensory-rich educational approaches (Machado, 2010).

Establishing intentional collaboration with educators has resulted in positive relationships through setting up learning experiences and arranging furniture in classroom environments (ACECQA, 2017). Establishing trusting relationships with families has been improved through communication during drop-off and pick-up (ADGE, 2022).

Evidence: Children engaged in scooping the alphabets using the shovels. 

Evidence: Children creating alphabet impressions using play dough.

Week 8: Colour week

In week 8, I combined sensory exploration with colour to enhance children's colour recognition. During a book-reading session about numbers and letters, the children were fascinated by the colours in the pictures. This inspired me to design activities that would help the children explore different colours through tactile experiences. My goal was to help the children learn about colours while continuing their sensory exploration (Papatheodorou, 2010). This week, the activities included colour mixing, a colour scavenger hunt, colourful pasta, and sorting colours with pom poms. The children enthusiastically explored colours using pasta, pom poms, play dough, and blocks, which also helped develop their senses and fine motor skills (Berk, 2013). These activities captured the children's interest and made learning more engaging.

With the Reggio Emilia approach, the environment is the "third teacher," allowing Colour Recognition Week to use open-ended resources and hands-on experiences to guide colour recognition learning (Edwards et al., 2015). The ability to guide educators in incorporating intentional teaching and interest-based experiences into curriculum plans has made me feel more confident as a leader (Arthur et al., 2018).

Evidence: Children uses their sense of touch to feel the colour flour.

Evidence: Children exploring their senses by dipping their hands into coloured water.

Week 9: Superhero week

In week 8, I observed a child bringing a Bluey superhero book. The children around him took turns reading to him, and I also read the book to them during group time. The children showed much interest in superheroes, so I consulted my room educators about including this interest in our curriculum. Then, a superhero-themed week was planned and posted on Xplor to let the children know. By incorporating the superhero theme, I created a collaborative learning experience to develop social skills and enhance sensory learning journeys (Kearns, 2021). This experience reminded me of the importance of intentional teaching and creating inclusive environments to improve children's learning outcomes (Epstein, 2014).

Children found distinguishing between fantasy superheroes and real-life heroes challenging, and some felt disconnected from superheroes (Wohlwend, 2012). This disappointed me, but I motivated myself to include alternative experiences such as firefighters, nurses, doctors, and teachers so that all children feel included and learn about real-life heroes. However, Children improved their tactile senses through activities like a superhero sensory bin featuring colourful pom-poms, pebbles, bubbles, and paints for creating handprints (Casey & Robertson, 2019).

From now on, I will be more mindful when choosing the week's theme. I will focus on children's learning and cater to the interests of the whole group rather than individual interests.

Evidence: Children doing the activity: Superhero sensory bin filled with pom poms, colourful pebbles and superhero characters.

Evidence: Children engaged in superhero rescue mission. 

I kept up with the events organised during "Keep Australia Beautiful Week" at the centre and incorporated sensory-rich experiences to continue children's sensory learning journey. As my 10-week professional practice journey was coming to an end, I felt nervous and nostalgic about leaving behind such a supportive team, environment, and the children and families I had grown fond of. The "Keep Australia Beautiful" theme provided a fitting conclusion to my placement, allowing the children to learn about respecting and caring for the environment as I bid them farewell. 

This week was successful as the children were accustomed to the learning experiences I had implemented in my professional practice. It was an excellent opportunity to teach them about reducing, reusing, and recycling to promote natural habitats (Davis, 2015). One of the most hands-on learning activities was nature walks and cleaning the centre. Children put on gloves and picked up rubbish from the outdoor space, raising awareness about keeping our environment clean and safe. Another activity involved creating sensory bags using natural materials collected from an outdoor area. Seeing children using natural materials and their ideas and imaginations to develop sensory bags was beautiful. This extended their thinking and reusing materials to enhance their creative skills (ADGE, 2022).

Taking the initiative to bring in egg cartons, milk bottles, and used butter containers from families has been fascinating, leading to enhanced family partnerships (Arthur et al., 2018). The children later used these materials for arts and crafts activities. This week's theme reinforced my dedication to raising environmental awareness among young children to protect our environment. Throughout the week, I felt more connected with the children and gained insights into their needs.

I hope this theme will have a lasting impact on children and encourage them to protect the environment. I plan to incorporate sustainability into my future teaching practices to educate children about reusing, reducing, and recycling (Davis, 2015). I'm thankful to all the staff members and children who have been part of this journey. I am confident that the sensory learning experiences provided over the past ten weeks will positively impact the children's lives. I'm motivated to continue learning and providing meaningful experiences for children to enrich their knowledge.

Evidence: Children created leaf collage by trapping the leaves on the paper tape.

Evidence: Children did the sand painting on "Keep the Australia Beautiful" Week.