This article draws on diverse theoretical concepts developed by Deleuze and Guattari to bring their ideas into the field of early childhood education and critical childhood studies, especially. We begin with discussion of how concepts developed by Deleuze and Guattari open possibilities for rethinking childhood and childhood studies. We situate the popular document Developmentally Appropriate Practices at the center of this discussion as an exemplar of popular childhood discourse and the closures inherent in that reasoning. Next, we discuss and define our understanding of Deluezean and Guattarian concepts. Finally, we provide examples of employing these concepts as tools to make visible closures and openings in discursive formations of childhoods (or teachers, parents, caregivers). Our examples include childhood on an individual interpersonal level with our ‘professional’ observation of a grandchild and on a broad policy level with a discussion of the testing movement in the United States.
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