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Clay and Pottery - Brief History of Pottery and Ceramic 2020, viewed 16 June 2020,

<http://www.lakesidepottery.com/HTML%20Text/brief%20history%20of%20clay_pottery.htm#:~:text=The%20Egyptians%20made%20kilns%20to%20place%20their%20clay>.

Department of Education and Training, for the council of Australian Government. Belonging, being and becoming:The early years learning framework for Australia, viewed on 7 March 2020, <https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-02/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf>.

Gandini, L, Hill. L. T, Cadwell. L. B, Schwall. C, Sheidel. S,  2015, In the spirit of the studio, 2nd edn, Teachers collage press, viewed 20 June 2020. <https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=3544852>

Light Play education resource 2017, viewed 21 June 2020, <https://vucollaborate.vu.edu.au/d2l/le/content/753982/viewContent/4536022/View>.

Nolan, A & Raban, B, 2015, Theories into practice: understanding and rethinking our work with young children and the EYLF, Teaching solutions, Albert Park, Australia

Pacini-Ketchabow, v, Kind, S & Kocher, L, 2016, Encounters with Materials in Early Childhood Education, Routledge, viewed 20 June 2020. <https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=4649662>

Schaefer, R., 2016. Teacher Inquiry On The Influence Of Materials On Children’S Learning (Voices) | NAEYC. [online] Naeyc.org. Available at: <https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2016/teacher-inquiry-material> [Accessed 21 June 2020].

Yazbeck, S 2013, Movement and Clay, in , Vucollaborate.vu.edu.au, viewed 18 June 2020, <https://vucollaborate.vu.edu.au/d2l/le/content/753982/viewContent/4598987/View>.

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I can see you,
I can hear you,
Also I can feel you,
You are an angel,
As you travel across many things to end the darkness of the world,
You are a magician,
As you fall onto a raindrop to create seven beautiful colours,
You are designer,
As you design my own shadow when I cover you with my body,
I feel there’s no glow in life, without you my darling light!

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Pedagogical approach and Early Years Learning Framework

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Pedagogical approach and Early Years Learning Framework

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I believe that the process of learning should originate from the interests of children. Piaget presents the idea that children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore the world around them (Nolan & Raban 2015).  Light provide the opportunity for children to explore the environment around them and deepen their understanding of the materials.  Light plays an essential role in inquiry-based learning and it can take part in shaping ideas of children. Young children are curious about every new thing they see, every new word they hear and have their own unlimited questions about everything. With the material light, children are encouraged to look at things in different perspectives. Ex: When sunlight fall onto a glass that light rays reflect and refract onto a surface to produce different colours. Through that children get to know that light travels and make changes. Also when we use light to create shadows, it develops children’s critical thinking ability and problem solving skills with increasing their creativity. As well as it helps children to increase their spatial awareness.

Outcome 2 – 2.4 Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment.

Outcome 4 – 4.2 Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, enquiry, experimentation, hypothesizing, researching and investigating. (Department of Education and Training, for the council of Australian Government).

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Properties of Light and our memories with light

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Properties of Light and our memories with light

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Experimentation opens up worlds and creates new venues for thinking and doing and it reveals what human and non-human bodies can do and produce when they encounter each other’s (Pacini-Ketchabow et al. 2016. P. 14). Me and my niece do experiments with shadow. A shadow is an absence of light. Light is an intangible moving source. When an object is closer to the light source, the shadow gets bigger. When we pay our full attention and if we focus on the light and think deeply, we can hear the sound of light. I remember that my niece use her toy torch which makes a beautiful shadow of a character when it switched on, to create different sort of stories each night. With the knowledge I gained in class, I experimented shadow using my hands and light to create the images of different animals. Also I used different papers and light to see the way how light passes through to understand the terms of “transparent, Translucent and Opaque”.

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Light is a natural energy that makes us see things and make things visible. When light passes through something but it does not make a clear image, we call it Translucent. A shadow is a dark area or shape made by a body or object that is between a light source and a surface. If we cannot be seen through, we call it an opaque. Reflection is a bounce back light without absorbing it and refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one transparent substance to another. Transparent in light is allowing light to pass through so that we can see directly through something (Light Play education resource 2017). The natural light we get is the sunlight and also there are different types of lights

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Rainbow colours appeared on the floor as a result of reflect and refract of sunlight which is fallen to a glass.

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You’re such nice and innocent,

I started shaping you as my latest piece of art,

I slowly moulded you without hurting and turned you to a beautiful vase,

Then I watched you coming to this world,

Now you’re a member of my little home,

Who greets me every morning ,

With a bouquet of beautiful flowers!

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Pedagogical approach and Early Years Learning Framework

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Pedagogical approach and Early Years Learning Framework

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Clay is a material which makes plenty of demands.  Clay is a perfect material for children to explore their learning through experimentation in early childhood settings. Children can mould clay and by assembling different parts, they get the opportunity to create and connect with anything according to their interests. That can be seen in Reggio Emilia concept as “Through experimentation, we discovered how something works by relations among the parts of assemblages, structures, flows and connections” (Pacini-Ketchabow et al. 2016. P. 15). Playing with clay provides many benefits for children. It develops children’s constructivism, social learning and interaction with others and the space. Also it helps children to self-regulate, increase their patience, problem-solving skills and fine motor skills.

Playing with clay will ensure the outcomes such as “children have a strong sense of identity and well-being, they are connected with and contributed to their world, they are confident and involved learners and children are effective communicators” to cover up the Early Years Learning Framework of Being, Belonging and Becoming (Department of Education and Training, for the council of Australian Government).

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Properties of Clay and our memories with Clay

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Properties of Clay and our memories with Clay

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“Clay, like the other materials in our environment; it has become a language to express feelings and thoughts, a form of expression, representation, wonder, desire, understanding; and inquiry. Clay is all of this, with or without movement alone or with other materials, and in many forms” (Yazbeck 2013 vol.38). During my childhood, in my home country, clay was found easily outside our houses (as it is a kind of a soil). But today, my niece owns a packet of clay which is brought from a shop. it’s very easy to use. I and my niece started to, pinch, throw, and slice, engrave, shape, alter, paint, carve, transform and move clay. After many attempts we were able to make a flower vase, a cupcake and a unicorn last Saturday. Though the place got messy and we had to spend our whole day in the same place, playing with clay gave birth to the creativity hidden inside us.

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Clay is a mineral form near the surface of the Earth over long period of time as a result of the gradual chemical weathering of rocks. Clay was first used to make functional pottery vessels for storing water and food by the ancient people. The Egyptian made klins to place clay pots for firing. In the medieval times sand was mixed with clay to make cooking pots strong enough to be placed over an open fire. Today, casseroles used for baking are made from clay mixed with grog (Clay and Pottery - Brief History of Pottery and Ceramic 2020).

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The very first day you came to my house,
You were so beautiful tidy tissue rolls, pieces of rubber sheets and egg cartons,
Mom never let me touch you since you were loaded with things that mom needed always,
But,
When the day that you became empty and unwanter,
Mom threw you away,
Then you became mine,
I turned my baby tissue rolls a till in her First birthday,
I turned my baby rubber sheets into a happy fish in her second birthday,
I turned my baby egg cartons into beautiful flowers in their third birthday,
My darling junk babies show your beauty to the world and let people envy you!

(Below is a picture of flowers made out of egg cartons.)

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Pedagogical approach and Early Years Learning Framework

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Pedagogical approach and Early Years Learning Framework

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According to my experience with junk materials, I feel that we can create successful learning spaces which enable children to play freely with junk materials as they are open-ended play items. Children increasingly develop their imaginative play, problem solving skills and creativity and sensory learning when using recyclable objects. Utilizing junk materials teach children about sustainability. “Care and aesthetic attention are extremely important elements in space and environments, because they bring cultural and ethical attitudes that affect the construction of individual and social identity” (Gandini et al. 2015. p 19). Therefore while engage in play with loose parts, children will also become active participants who save the environment. Learning through loose parts provides the opportunity for children to touch and feel the real materials. Children will make meanings to those loose parts by carefully observing each object.

This can be linked with the Early Years Learning framework as,

Outcome 3 – 3.2 Children take increasing responsibility for their own health and physical well-being

Outcome 4 – 4.2 Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, enquiry, experimentation (Department of Education and Training, for the council of Australian Government).

(Below is a picture of a Till made using tissue rolls.)

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Properties of Junk materials and our memories with loose parts

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Properties of Junk materials and our memories with loose parts

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I believe that Junk materials can evoke memories, narrate stories, invite actions and communicate ideas (Pacini-Ketchabow et al. 2016. P.10). Junk materials are tangible items with many uses. Me and my niece, collect, hide, sort, evaluate, conceal, construct, push, observe and recognize junk materials at home. We used to watch YouTube videos and make different items such as book mark holders, egg carton flowers, jewellery, tills. Today we made toy fish using rubber sheets that were thrown away. We collected them and cut them in different pieces as the body parts of the fish and fixed it with glue. We had to use paper cutter in order to get the correct shapes.  Once it was fixed, we enjoyed colouring it. We mixed different colours together to form new colours. Then we fixed its eyes which were found from a broken doll. When using junk materials, there are limitations as it can make hygiene issues and safety issues.

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Junk materials are the discarded materials such as paper, buttons, strings, cardboards, plastic items which can be re-used in some forms. They are cheap and readily available. Junk materials also can be the rubbish thrown out. But that rubbish can be a treasure to children as it provides many opportunities for children to learn.

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Paper is made from Cellulose fibers which is extracted from a variety of sources and converted into pulp. Then the pulp is combined with water and placed on a paper making machine to be flattened and dried. Paper was first made in Lei-Yang, China by Ts’ai Lun.

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Thank you so much,
For being so kind to me,
When I cry, you hold all my tears,
When I smile, you hold all my scribbles,
When I’m emotional, you hold all my words,
No one ever is as innocent as you in this world,
You don’t scold or get angry with me,
Though I cut, fold or make you a mess,
Still you kiss my fingers and say me “come let’s have another fun”.

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Pedagogical approach and Early Years Learning Framework

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Pedagogical approach and Early Years Learning Framework

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According to Pacini Ketchabow, “classroom art is an opportunity given to children to explore to have a sensory experience” (Pacini-Ketchabow et al. 2016. P.17). I believe that when working with papers, children can improve their fine motor skills, creativity, as well as to improve hand and eye coordination. As paper has its own inclination, it can act with anything and become known by how it moves with direct interactions. The critical theory of Paulo Freire explains that “educators and children will talk, explore ideas and learn together about different ways of constructing their world, Thereby improving and transforming the conditions under which learning takes place” (Nolan & Raban 2015).Paper can make children energetic and creative. Same time, Children can convert a blank paper to full of meaningful creations.

This can be linked with the Early Years Learning Framework as,

Outcome 1 - 1.4 Children Children develop knowledgeable and confident self-identities

Outcome 4 - 4.1 Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm and imagination (Department of Education and Training, for the council of Australian Government).

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Properties of Paper and our memories with paper

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Properties of Paper and our memories with paper

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Paper is a useful tool for everyone. Paper flaps, floats, glides, hovers, soars, tears, rips, sways, flies, rolls, gathers ,crumples, accepts, folds and covers (Pacini-Ketchabow et al. 2016. P.31). I also have a habit of using a paper and write poems and draw paintings whenever I am emotionally overwhelmed. My niece use paper to draw her imaginations and also use papers to make many other play items. Paper is an open-ended material and it comes in different colours. I made a cat decoration with papers for my niece’s Birthday which was on the day after I had my first session in this unit. Initially I drew the structure of the cat on paper, then cut that and fixed the parts to create a cat face and paws. The best characteristic that I see in paper is, if we make any mistake on that, we can erase and make corrections. But the worst characteristic is, if the paper is torn there is no way to make it back.