ABSTRACT
This chapter is structured to look, first, at identity and what this concept means, before introducing ideas about materiality. It discusses how materiality is a useful medium for exploring childhood identity; first, in relation to how objects such as toys, games and pictures are marketed, selected and often used in ways which reveal how childhood identities are shaped within social and cultural systems; and second, how children themselves engage with and use material things to narrate their individual and unique sense of self. When talking about identity children draw upon socially constructed definitions of themselves—they use language, images and behaviour that reflect the social norms rooted within any given culture. The vast majority of developmental theories about childhood identity within child psychology have drawn heavily upon adult interpretations. There are different ways of applying the concept of materiality to explore childhood identity.
