Materials Matter

Choose your starting point.

Let’s Begin! Guide

Learn about our 12 core materials.

Are you just getting started with open-ended materials? We created this guide for educators, caregivers, and homeschool families who are curious about our approach but want a simple, practical way to begin before diving into the full Materials Matter course. Think of it as your first introduction to the materials, mindset, and approach we explore more deeply in the full course.

Learn more about Let's Begin!
Learn more about Let's Begin!

Materials Matter Course

Our signature self-paced course.

Are you ready to build your entire year around open-ended materials? Before classrooms can become hubs of creativity and agency, educators must first become comfortable with what materials can do and become. As we take a deep dive each month into new materials, you will grow more confident with our guiding principle: art is play and play is learning. Join us for this course and discover a whole-child curriculum rich with materials. Transform your teaching practice and become a confident cultivator of creativity!

Materials Matter Course
$264.00
One time
$66.00
For 4 months
✓ Unlimited lifetime access
✓ Over 20 hours of video content
✓ Up to 24 hrs of PD with certificates
✓ Reflection Journal
✓ 30-minute Makerspace Makeover video

Materials Matter is our signature, 12-module, self-paced course exploring foundational art & play materials for classrooms, studios, childcare centers, and pre-service programs. The course includes:

  • 12 Playbooks (25 pages each)

  • Weekly open-ended invitations

  • Guidance on storing and displaying materials

  • Mindset work on letting go of expectations

  • Planning the environment to cultivate flow

  • Inspiring photos from real classrooms

  • Product links

  • Book Lists

  • Real stories from educators using the materials

  • 12 in-depth video workshops

  • Reflection questions and PD certificates

  • 30-minute Makerspace Makeover video

  • Adaptations for Toddlers and At-Home use

  • This course is a must for any educator (especially pre-service teachers), so that they can already be set up for success rather than learning the traditional worksheet model that we see in a lot of schools right now, and then having to learn a new way to teach down the line. Creativity, choice, and freedom is something that all children deserve 💛

    Rachel S., ECE, Materials Matter course member

  • Bar & Shannon, you two have been striking chords of mine for years. You gals are better than caffeine. You remind me of all the values that I believe are so important to childhood development. It's energy that come from the YES when you feel in tune with others. Energy that comes from feeling excited to try something new... that lights you up inside. Thank you for helping me prioritize and preserve that creative and sacred play space for the young (and the rest of us so we can stay young at heart).

    Laura A., ECE and Materials Matter course member

  • I've sent this course to the preschool director at my child's school because this is EXACTLY what I want my child to be doing there 💕

    Rachel W., arts educator and parent

  • You guys were right! Children do not need to be taught creativity! Despite my apprehension, my child took to the "pile of cardboard" immediately. She knew exactly what she wanted to do with the materials and how to do it. All I had to do was sit back and sip my tea!

    Angeline, SLP and parent

  • I have been following you for years. This is your best work ever. I am using this as a home art preschool curriculum for my daughter. I love the joy this has brought into my home not just for my preschooler, but for my big kids too.

    Angela, parent

  • I love that it is open-ended and that, as a less experienced person, I can start out with expert advice! It is much more flexible than other products/curriculum. I don't run an art class OR an early childhood class- but it fits so well! This course helps me so much with the language and visuals to use with parents in our play space and volunteers and staff that are helping care for our space so they get a sense for what we are going for.

    Audrey, Child Center Play Space

  • I truly appreciate the depth & detail! The pros & cons of each material, how best to work w/them, store them, cleanup after, unexpected uses, things that work well together. I also appreciate how supportive and responsive you both are!

    Lori, Early childhood educator

  • I LOVE EVERYTHING!! The ideas, the books, one thing to collect and work with for the month... I love your work and recommend it to literally everyone I know.

    KC, Arts educator

  • What do I love most about this course? The visual inspiration mixed with practical hands on ideas and approaches I can use everyday in the classroom. I also can't wait to get that cardboard cutter!

    Jasmine, Early childhood educator

  • I love the videos and seeing how to use the materials. I also love how you started off with the simplest art material paper and then built upon that. The order of these months have been perfect: loose parts during the holidays (great gift ideas) and cardboard after the holidays.

    Veronique, parent and ECE

 FAQs

  • We created this course for educators, studio owners, and anyone who works with young children. The course is designed to equip adult facilitators with tools and practices necessary to feel comfortable and confident with open-ended materials. Pairing practical guidance with simple ideas, inspiring photos, and real stories and images from classrooms contextualizes this creative approach to learning. We have found that this kind of training is often missing from education programs and professional development experiences. When we feel confident and creative, children feel safe to take risks, innovate, explore, and express.

  • Our art & play curriculum guides center around a big idea or theme and include a variety of invitations, picture books, and activities related to that big idea or theme. Materials Matter offers playbooks, videos, and other resources that are focused on the mechanics of how to source, store, and offer 12 foundational art and play materials. We dive deep into the brands we use, the variety of choices, how to pare down, what to look for in your community, collecting, organizing, storing, and how to offer the materials in accessible and aesthetically inspiring ways. Our mantra for open-ended creativity is to set it up and see what happens. Throughtout this course, you will learn how to see all areas of the room as opportunities for creative learning. In addition to our 12 Playbooks and 12 video workshops in Materials Matter, those enrolled in the course also have an opportunity to reflect and earn 12 professional learning certificates.

  • We understand that each educator has different requirements depending on the setting. We have designed Materials Matter to be accessible to all who work with young children, regardless of circumstance, and to easily integrate into established curriculums. Whether you have full support to make time and space for play and process art or need a confidence boost so that you will be able to advocate for it, throughout the course we will show you ways to integrate these open-ended experiences into the day. (Our workshop Play Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect also covers how to make time for daily open-ended exploration of materials.) Small tweaks and changes to the way we offer art and play experiences add up to true transformation in the classroom, studio, or wherever you are with young children.

  • Absolutely! In fact, we base our entire philosophy around setting up art and play experiences that can easily span multi-ages and different abilities. We do this by teaching you how to create open-ended stations where children have agency and choice and where materials can be used in flexible ways to meet children where they are.

  • After you purchase this course you will create a login in to your Materials Matter portal which takes you to a menu with a page for each of the 12 materials. Every page has a downloadable, 25-page playbook, a list of material and book links, an in-depth video, reflection questions, and a PD certificate. You will have lifetime access to all content.

  • Yes, you can purchase this course at any time of the year. Content is self-paced. Although we did design the flow of this course in order of basic to more complex, you can pick and choose where you want to begin and spread it out over any time period that works for you.

  • Absolutely! We have designed most of our creative experiences within each Playbook to incorporate recycled and repurposed materials that you can source in your own community or substitute with what's available to you. Another benefit is that this course is not seasonal and works just as well for the Southern and Northern Hemispheres.

  • We ask that you purchase one membership per classroom, please. If you are co-teachers, then you can share one membership. We’ve made our curriculum incredibly inexpensive and offer discounts for schools. We appreciate your support in our work!

  • Yes, we have bulk discounts for schools and will work with Title 1 schools to ensure our programs and resources are affordable and accessible to all. Please email us for more info!

  • We will be offering coaching services in Fall 2024, so please join our mailing list to stay in the loop!

  • Our Instagram is very in-depth. We have story highlights of each module of Materials Matter, with sneak peeks inside the playbooks, video footage of materials being used in the classroom, and lots of relevant shared content. You can get a more detailed inside look at how the course portal works in this Instagram reel.

  • Of course! You can email us anytime. You can also message us through Instagram. We will get back to you as soon as we can within 24 hours.

Not quite ready?

Start with our free workshop! In this 20-minute video, we share our approach to collecting, curating, and offering our most valued art materials and show you how to create 3 simple art carts for children to use independently.

Sign up to watch our Art Cart video!