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Children are considered as capable and competent. Their curiosity lead them to explore and experience new things when they engage with different materials in their day today lives at early learning settings or at home. Introducing science concepts to young children can be helpful for them to build their critical thinking skills, creativity, decision making and literacy.
Children at certain stages of development gain and experience new things by exploring themselves as they practically engaging in activities. This journal discusses how did I explore science as a concept in the form of artefacts. The materials, techniques, process and plans are displayed in this journal  as I explore through this concept.

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This activity was done for the first assignment of Early Childhood Curriculum and Pedagogy 2 unit. I used the pouring paint technique but instead of using actual pouring medium I used different liquids which has similar features to the pouring medium and explored the paint movement. I used PVA glue, clear dishwashing liquid and water as pouring medium and mixed them with acrylic paint to do this technique.
The reason why I thought of using alternatives for pouring medium is because the pouring mediums in the market are quite expensive. Thinking about the properties of the pouring medium which is concentrated white runny liquid which does not change the color of the paint when mixed. And on the other hand when I was exploring acrylic paint and realized that acrylic paint is thick, smooth and does not have the required mobility to flow. The alternative liquids I chose worked well with acrylic paint without changing the color ,the drying process and the end result.
The scientific background for this artefact is the alternative liquid velocity and density ratios.

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This artefact represent the properties of paper. I have used facial tissues and colored them using highlighters. Then I used an ink tube of a pen to role the tissue, then I squeezed down the tissue from one end to take it out from the ink tube and draw small eyes and body stripes as a caterpillar. Then I put it on a plate and put some water on to the caterpillars and then they start moving as if they dancing.
The science behind this artefact is the differences between different types of paper. Tissue papers are thin and easily absorb liquids. If I used an A4 sheet for this activity the results could be different.

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Moving water using a paper towel is an amazing science activity. The paper acts as the transferring medium. I used red and yellow food dye and water. Used paper towel as paper towels are strong and absorbs water quickly. I tried facial tissues but the tissue is not strong enough and tend to tear off when soaked.
Science behind this artefact is called capillary action. Which means adhesive force in the paper towel is stronger than cohesive force in water which make the water move up along the paper towel and collect in the empty jar.

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- Pouring paint can be considered as a messy play, as paint being a sensory material in Early Childhood Education settings children always use paint. This particular pouring technique is amalgamated with scientific approach as the pouring medium is alternated by other different liquids to get the same effect.
Paint related artworks promote physical development through hand eye coordination and fine motor skills. Imagination and creative thinking through use of different colors. Cognitive development skills through exploring different tools and materials to create the artwork (Barton, 2015).
- Exploring different types of papers and their properties can be seen through this artefact. Science behind the experiment is the absorbing capacity of the paper which give the tissue paper caterpillars wiggle and growing effect when adding water. Similarly walking water activity has the same scientific approach and learning outcomes.
Different materials open up divergent learning pathways for children as the explore the materials. As the explore they learn different properties of the materials. The sensory and aesthetic properties of the materials paves the pathways to further experiments and exploration (Penfold, 2019).
- Using natural materials to make colors, identifying which natural materials have the ability to give the required color is a competency focused through these artefacts using natural flowers and leaves and the mud.
Young children understanding the colors that they can find in their coloring pallets or crayons, are similar to the colors they find in nature and use them to create an artefact is material learning and it is a huge discovery that young children (Louise Boyd Cadwell 1998).
- Upcycling projects can be a great approach exploring materials and sustainability of the environment. Sustainable development is a contemporary issue in current society and integrating sustainable projects for young children and giving them the exposure of upcycling can help the creativity, ethical and moral benefits(Engdahl 2015).

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This activity was done using natural flowers and leaves that I found in my garden. I put the flowers and leaves on a paper and using a heavy object I used to hammer them on to the paper. I was expecting to see the whole flowers and leaves printed on to the paper but ended up having random designs on the paper. When I was looking at the pattern and design I saw some random shapes on them and I took a pen and draw what I saw and it turned out to be different animals.
This artefact is related to science through nature as I gathered the materials from nature and the unexpected outcome turned out to be animals from nature. Moreover, this artefact denotes my imaginations and creative thinking.

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Art has always been a major learning language in children's lives from young age. But without framing them to a crayon box or paint pallet, letting them explore the materials, substitutes and innovative thinking they may come up with should be considered when implicating aesthetic curriculum in early childhood settings.
Combining scientific approaches in language of art can be considered as a multidisciplinary learning experience. Teaching them why things happen in words that they can understand can create huge impact in their critical thinking and innovative thinking.
If children engage in these artefacts and get the idea of scientific background behind the activity and they start to wonder what if I add oil into acrylic paint as a pouring medium or what if I use a piece of cloth instead of paper towel to get the water moving or what if I use toilet paper instead of facial tissue to make caterpillars, or what if I crush these different color flowers to make the colors instead of hammering them straight on to the paper are some of the thoughts that can be come into discussion when implicating science and art as a multidisciplinary learning method. Which paves the way to new experimental pathways, new critical thinking skills, creativity and innovations.

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This is an upcycle project using recycled magazines. I used different colored magazine pages and cut them in the shape of a long triangle and rolled them using skewer and applied glue to secure the shape of the beads. Then made the bangle shape using twines.
Upcycling is helping sustainability of the environment. It can be a source of income as upcycling materials gives the existing material a new look. For an example, these paper beads are available in the market to sell for art projects (https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/product/4m-green-science-recycled-paper-beads/). Exploring different perspectives of the paper as a material and creating artefacts like this helps the environmental sustainability.

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Mud paint is made using mud, different dyes, natural spices etc. Mud is mixed with dishwashing liquid, water or oil depending on the mixing element. Orange color is made using less ratio of mud, high ratio of chili powder and turmeric powder and mixed with oil. Purple color is made using mud with low volume of water to make the mud paste thick and then added indigo dye. The green color is made using Moringa Powder (Green leaves Powder) by adding oil and mud. Red color is made using red acrylic paint, water and mud.
Exploring mud and making colors using mud was a scientific experiment as mixing different ratios of elements to get right color was challenging. Knowing which elements can be mixed with different liquids is the knowledge of viscosity and density lessons in science.

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To conclude, the multidisciplinary learning and teaching method is highly effective approach for young children to explore things clearly, reason out things, critically analyze things that they play daily and develop innovative thinking.
Science is all around us, teaching children about scientific factors through materials and languages like arts can develop children's literacy, gross motor skills, cognitive development and thinking abilities.
Through this digital visual journal from the things I explored, I developed my experimenting skills by thinking of other scientific theories that I know. So I think implicating multidisciplinary teaching in early childhood setting is crucial and helpful for the children as they learn things fast with the developing technology.