The new Australian national science curriculum includes chemistry content at the primary level. Chemistry for young students is learning about changes in material stuff (matter) and, by implication, of what stuff is made. Pedagogy in this area needs to be guided by research if stepping stones to later learning of chemical ideas are to facilitate conceptual progress rather than hinder it. Further, recent findings advocate both the informal and formal introduction of aspects of the particulate model of matter at the primary level, provided certain teaching and learning strategies are used. (Contains 5 figures and 2 notes.)