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This inquiry into assemblage led me to rethink my approach about the role and the structure or lack thereof in the artistic world and its role in early childhood development. The concept of assemblage comes together when different elements diffuse with each other to form something unique. Thankfully, cultural and artistic diffusion has occurred since the dawn of human history and takes place continually, without direction or premeditation or expert control, indeed whenever human and non-human elements of different groups come into contact with one another (Edwards, Gandini & Forman 2011, p. 367).  One thing that I have learned from this study into assemblages is that as educators we should not strive to reproduce something, but be always open to creation and sustaining the relations and ecologies of emerging assemblages

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In this inquiry, I experimented with natural materials and how to use them in a classroom setting to be included in play and ‘art and craft’. In this study of assemblage art, I strived to use some natural materials to make a visual assemblage art. I used branches, leaves, flowers, and buds from a variety of plants that were to be used in the assemblage. I examined various ways I can use these materials in my task. I spent quite a long time experimenting with these materials and that finally led me to create this assemblage artwork.

When children are using natural materials to develop their knowledge, they show greater concern and appreciation for the natural environment and explore relationships with other living and non-living things (Department of Education and Training 2021 ). Current research clearly shows that natural materials and outdoor play are beneficial to children in many ways. Playing outdoors and developing a connection with nature is important for developing capacities for creativity, symbolic play, problem-solving and intellectual development. Using natural materials and interacting with nature gives educators an opportunity to teach children about caring for the world in which we live.

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Tried visualising an assemblage using natural materials.

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There is no denying the fact that nature and natural materials provide a vital role in a child’s development and understanding of their surroundings. Sensory stimulation derived from interacting with natural environments and materials allows children to learn with all of their senses. These senses include seeing, hearing, touching, and smelling (Department of Education and Training 2021 ).

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In this exploration, I tried to used paint in such a way that paint becomes something to think with not to work with. I let the paint guide me and used various materials in combination with paint to create an assemblage. I put myself in the position of a child and used various materials like leaves, fingers, hands, brushes, and sponges to leave a mark on the canvas. I used paints of different thicknesses and viscosity so that I can feel the paint on my hands. The various materials and paints came together to make this paint assemblage.

One of the things to investigate about paint assemblages is what drives them. What can create such patterns and then destroy them. It is because of the creative potential of paint assemblages, that human and non-human bodies come together to create an improvisational process that “makes and produces the space or territory simultaneously” (Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind & Kocher 2016, p.56). Thus, we have to pay attention to the ways in which forms emerge in the classroom in paint-easel-child-brush-educator assemblages. We have to let the paint guide us to a new pattern and a new element every day.

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Paint blurs distinctions between the child who paints and the painted picture, and all other related things such as the blank paper waiting to be covered in paint, the easel standing in the classroom corner, the brushes waiting to be moved, and the paint in the tray, comes together to make an assemblage of itself (Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind & Kocher 2016, p.53).

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In this inquiry, I experimented with different types of paper and tried to manipulate it into different shapes to be used in an assemblage to make visual artwork. I tried to make paper into different shapes and sizes that children can make, and then arranged it to form an aesthetically pleasing assemblage artwork. I started with plain white paper and made geometric shapes with it and then followed it up with newspaper straws and cut-outs. My main point of inquiry was to explore different possibilities to manipulate paper.

Paper is like a riddle and has its own stories. To know paper in this way is not just to describe its properties or attributes, but to learn how it moves and to describe what happens to it as it shifts, mixes, modifies, mutates. (Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind & Kocher 2016, p.31). While using paper to experiment, the focus should not be on what would result from it, but to be engrossed in the process of exploration and to be part of the alchemy that is the process of encounter with a material. In early education, we have to let the paper weave itself into our lifeworld. In my experimentation, I learned that we have to let ourselves be open to the possibility of new ways of knowing and new ways of being so that something new and surprising can happen.

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Pacini-Ketchabaw, V, Kind, S & Kocher, LLM 2016, Encounters with materials in early childhood education, Routledge

Edwards, C, Gandini, L & Forman, G 2011, The hundred languages of children: the Reggio Emilia experience in transformation, 3rd edn, ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA.

Zulma Aimmatul Mahshulah, ES & Rachmawati, Y 2020, ‘The Ray of Light: An Activity Approach of Reggio Emilia’, The 2 nd International Conference on Elementary Education, Department of Early Childhood Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, pp. 1–6, viewed <http://proceedings.upi.edu/index.php/icee/article/view/687/603>.

Thornton, L & Brunton, P 2010, ‘Exploring light and dark with early years’, Teaching Expertise, Wordpress, viewed 28 July 2021, <https://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/exploring-light-and-dark-with-early-years/#:~:text=Playing%20with%20light%20and%20dark%20creates%20magical%20experiences%20that%20both,Dowling%20terms%20’gratuitous%20fear>

Department of Education and Training 2021, Natural Environments, DET, Melbourne, viewed 22 August 2021, <https://www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood/providers/regulation/Pages/naturalenvironments.aspx>.

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Paper is a limitless well of opportunities when it comes to early childhood education. Paper comes in numerous forms such as magazines, newspapers, letters, prints, books, etc and the number of ways paper can be used to explore, experiment, investigate and play is simply unfathomable.

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In this exploration, I tried to play with everyday objects and light to see what kind of shadow they make and how those shadows are affected when we move those objects. My main point of inquiry was to use several materials together and see what type of shadows they would make as a group. Through experimentation, I was able to create some shadows that resembled other objects such as a train wagon with cylinders on it, a house and a chimney, and my final artwork, a car. I used everyday materials like rolls, packaging material, and cardboard. I noticed that the shadows were different if I moved the light source or the object in focus.

In early childhood education, we can create a lot of opportunities to get children involved in light and shadow play. We can create special places to explore light in your setting by adjusting the light levels where lightboxes and overhead projectors are used. By their nature the materials that are used to explore light promote aesthetic awareness and an appreciation of beauty. It is equally important that these interesting materials and resources are presented to the children so that they invite exploration and investigation (Thornton & Brunton 2010 ).

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There is no place where light does not touch, and it is one of the most essential senses that humans have. Therefore, it is necessary to provide an understanding of the concept of light correctly at the early age of the child so that it will not cause misconceptions until they became adults (Zulma Aimmatul Mahshulah & Rachmawati 2020).

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In this unit, we were introduced to quite a few new concepts. One of them that captured my interest and the one I would like to inquire about is the concept of assemblage. As a concept, assemblage art combines everyday objects in new and surprising ways which help the onlooker to view the art from a diverse perspective. We may not notice it, but the assemblage is quite frequently used in early childhood education when children are trying to broaden their artistic horizons. Children do this when they incorporate numerous craft materials in their paintings and artworks. These materials include cotton balls, ice cream sticks, colour paper, glitter, threads, beads, straws, ribbons, paper plates, and many more.

In this unit, we studied assemblage and its relation to paint, and how we can use both of them together to melt away the boundaries between human and non-human elements to create unique artworks with children (Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind & Kocher 2016, p.53). In this project, I plan to inquire further into the concept of assemblage and to experiment with other materials and artistic language to dive into the limitless possibilities of assemblage.