ABSTRACT
In the early childhood classroom, educators and children gather around materials to investigate, negotiate, converse, and share. A block of clay, a brush, pots of paint, a brilliant sheet of paper, a heavy rectangular wooden block, a thin piece of willow charcoal materials beckon and pull us in. This chapter presents stories of how materials are conceptualized in early childhood education. It outlines the project this book is based on: what the authors did, the questions they asked, how they integrated materials through the arts, how they used video and photography. In other words, the chapter is where their theoretical and methodological frameworks are set into motion. Today, scholars continue to highlight the importance of materials in young children's learning. Processes such as painting with a brush and working with clay are seen as activities that contribute to children's social, physical, emotional, and creative development.
