This paper outlines a range of ways that technology education can be incorporated into existing curricula without compromising those programs, the technological skills and knowledge advocated in the 1994 technology statement of the Curriculum Corporation of Australia, or the children and teachers themselves. A case study of a year-two teacher is presented to illustrate creation of a developmentally appropriate environment to involve children in thinking about the processes entailed in technology education. The proposed methods emphasize the need for technology education to be implemented in real life and not in artificial situations wherein children are asked to construct something. A series of examples is offered on how to create real-life situations based on existing curriculum routines, the arrangement of the physical environment, and the children's questions. The paper suggests that although there may be other ways that technology can be introduced to very young children, technology education--with its emphasis on designing, making, and appraising materials, systems, and information--extends children's learning opportunities. This framework provides for children another way of thinking as they engage in manipulating systems, information, and materials. (AA)