TERRITORIES OF IMAGINATION: CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES WITH THE MATERIALITIES OF NATURE

Abstract

The study discusses children’s separation from natural environments, a condition aggravated by social isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic, which increased the amount of time they spent indoors and restricted their opportunities for outdoor play. In this context, the study aimed to analyze the relationships children established with materialities of nature, as well as to build connections among the educational institution, families, and the group of children during the social-distancing period. The experience was conducted in 2021 with four- and five-year-old children from a Pré II preschool class at a Municipal Early Childhood Education Center in São José dos Pinhais, Paraná, Brazil. Based on a qualitative, participatory, and phenomenological approach, the investigation combined documentary research with an experience report and drew on the contributions of Adriana Friedman, Léa Tiriba, Gandhy Piorski, and Gaston Bachelard. The material analyzed included narratives, drawings, and photographic records of characters created from sticks. The results showed that the pedagogical proposal encouraged family participation, strengthened emotional bonds, and expanded opportunities for creation and interaction in different settings. Reimagined by the children during play, the sticks stimulated fantasy, curiosity, and self-expression, revealing the symbolic and poetic potential of natural materials. The study concludes that experiences of this kind can help overcome children’s confinement, value their agency, and foster educational practices that are more responsive to the relationships among childhood, imagination, and nature.