Creating Quality Environments

Young children spend a great deal of their time and energy trying to understand the world around them. The environment in which they spend their time is a critical component of their ability to make sense of the world and build the foundations for ongoing learning. At the same time, children’s health and safety must be a primary consideration. How then can the need for exploration and discovery be balanced with the need for safety?

According to Infant and Toddler Spaces: Design for a Quality Classroom (a collaboration between WestEd's Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC) and Community Playthings) there are eight qualities to consider when setting up environments for infants and toddlers. These include qualities that relate to the needs of infants and their caregivers and that support infant development:

• Safety
• Health
• Comfort
• Convenience
• Child-Size Space
• Flexibility
• Movement
• Choice

A detailed description of components of the environment that support each of these qualities can be found at Community Playthings.

Older preschoolers also need an environment that is both safe and supportive of exploration and learning. Highscope guidelines recommend a learning environment that is “divided into interest areas or learning centers equipped for distinct kinds of play” and that:

• Is welcoming to children
• Provides enough materials for all the children
• Allows children to find, use, and return materials independently
• Encourages different types of play
• Allows the children to see and easily move through all the areas of the classroom or center
• Is flexible so children can extend their play by bringing materials from one area to another
• Provides materials that reflect the diversity of children’s family lives

The following books on setting up environments are available for checkout from ECCLC.

Infant/Toddler Caregiving: A Guide to Setting Up Environments, by J. Ronald Lally and Jay Stewart

Classroom Spaces that Work, by Marlynn K. Clayton with Mary Beth Forton

Designs for Living and Learning: Transforming Early Childhood Environments, by Deb Curtis and Margie Carter