Schools

One Thing Leads to Another

A Collective Collaboration by Maja Ardal, Audrey Dwyer,
Mary Francis Moore and Julia Tribe
Developed from the original concept, research and theme by Maja Ardal
Directed by Mary Francis Moore

Performers – Maja Ardal and Malindi Ayienga
Music initiatives – Maja Ardal
Director/Arts Education initiatives – Mary Francis Moore
Design initiatives – Julia Tribe

Parent Guide

One Thing Leads to Another is the culmination of two years of research by Maja Ardal. She has consumed text books full of infant developmental research and, in rehearsal, we have played more games of peek-a-boo with each other than you can imagine. Along the way we have tried to distill an enormous amount of academia into play-based scenarios that will provoke, stimulate and entertain our young audience.

-Mary Francis Moore, Director One Thing Leads to Another

Here is some of the research used in the show:

Did you know?

“If you stick your tongue out at a newborn, they will automatically stick out their tongue back at you. This is because their mirror neurons are firing and it helps them to imitate what they are seeing. Humans learn through watching and observing other humans. Mirror neurons are important for understanding the actions and intentions of other people, and for learning new skills by imitation. They are involved in planning and controlling actions, abstract thinking, and memory. As infants observe an action, their mirror neurons fire and form new neuro-pathways as if they were performing the action themselves. Efficient mirror neuron activity leads to good overall development in all areas, to higher emotional intelligence, and to the ability to empathize with others.”

– Paula Tarver, President of Advance My Baby.
A Reflection on Mirror Neurons And Why They Are So Important to Development

Did you know?

“There are two qualities of memory: ‘Explicit’ and ‘Implicit’. The capacity for ‘explicit’ memory reaches full maturity at around three years of age. This is the kind of memory that is conscious and enables us to tell a story that makes sense of what happened. ‘Implicit’ memory is available from birth or earlier, it is unconscious, and is encoded in emotional, sensory and visceral recall. In other words, what we don’t remember with our minds, we remember with our bodies, with our hearts and our ‘guts’ – with lasting implications for our thinking, feeling, and behaviour.”

– Robin Grille, Psychologist.
What Your Child Remembers – New Discoveries About Early Memory And How It Affects Us. Sydney’s Child, Volume 14, No 4.

Exercises You Can Try at Home:

  • Use a spoon to drum on the bottom of a pot, make a puppet with a dishcloth, lift a face cloth in the air and turn it into a leaf caught in the wind, or tickle your baby with a feather. Using everyday items in unexpected ways helps to develop recognition skills, enhance spatial awareness, and offers a safe element of surprise.
  • Reading and singing to your baby encourages a response to the rhythmic sound of your voice. This helps build attachment, increases language skills, and mathematical ability throughout growth.
  • Dancing with your baby in your arms to any kind of music is not only fun and great exercise but it also helps develop a sense of rhythm. Dancing offers immersive and stimulating physical engagement along with multisensory bonding that helps with cognitive, social, and sensory-motor development.
  • Rolling a ball, blowing bubbles or playing peek-a-boo are simple goal-related actions that promote sharing and help develop object permanence (the capacity to understand that something exists even when not seen).