Exploring materials is an evocative experience. It: stimulates the imagination.. inspires storytelling and interactions between children.. serves as a bridge to drawing, collage, sculpture, and construction. But how much exploration should you allow? How should you guide it? Where will it take you and the children you teach? How can you build upon your discoveries? Share the journey of real teachers in a real school who were inspired by educators from Reggio Emilia, Italy. They observed and recorded what happens when the focus is on process rather than product. In Beautiful Stuff!, you'll find ideas and suggestions, delights and revelations, doubts, joys, and continual insights. Above all, you'll find approaches to nurturing the innate creativity of children that you can adapt to any teaching situation. Exploration and Discovery: Curious Investigation, Problem Solving and Numeracy, Reason, Logic, and Scientific Inquiry, Reflections.