spaces

room layout
for early childhood education
 spaces
room layout
for early childhood education

“O ur designs shape children’s beliefs about themselves and

life. In a well designed area, children are engaged and feel
secure. A well designed area can facilitate predictable, consis-
tent and intimate care for each child.”

Anita Olds

Contents: The Importance of Space .............................. 2

What Makes a Good Space? ........................ 2
Activity Areas ............................................... 3
Location ........................................................ 4
Predictability
Room Regions and Zones
Boundaries ................................................... 5
Paths
Movement
Freedom to Explore
Privacy
Play and Sitting Surfaces ............................. 7
Variety
Storage ........................................................ 8
Flexibility
Mood ............................................................ 9
Empty Space
Inviting
Memorable
Equipment and Materials ........................... 11
Amount-to-do
Stimulation
Supportive Environment
A Quick Guide to Space Planning .............. 13
 When children feel comfort-
able in their physical
surroundings, they will
venture to explore materials
or events around them.

The Importance of Space Anita Olds

“Do you still have that loft?” college students stop to ask
Madeline Mulligan on the street.
What Makes
Madeline’s home-made loft occupies a corner in her a Good Space?
nursery school. A science centre is tucked underneath, and
from upstairs you can see out the classroom window. Twenty • Predictability
years later, young adults still remember climbing the wide • Clear paths to activities
ladder to catch a few moments of peace, to watch the robin
build her nest outside, and to gain a fresh perspective on the • Well-defined boundaries
room’s activities below.
• Enough opportunity
Through the centuries, those who care for children for movement
have understood the significance of a child’s surroundings.
Already in the 1800’s, the childcare expert Froebel stressed • Freedom for exploration
the importance of environmental design in the sense of a • Privacy
garden, natural, organic, ever-changing. He maintained that
when care is applied to children’s surroundings, behavior • Variety
can be guided and inspired. The simplest of locations can • Enough complexity
become a haven of play and learning.
(versatile open-ended units)
Too often, childcare takes place in society’s cast-off spaces,
• Flexibility
church basements, converted warehouses. Even centres
“purpose-built” for childcare are often designed with more • Varied levels of stimulation
of an eye to adult priorities than children’s needs. Ideally,
architect and childcare professionals work together as peers • A supportive environment
to create the best possible environment for young children. • The right amount
Whether laying out rooms you helped design, or making do of empty space
with the space you’ve been given, your decisions about room
layout are crucial. • Inviting, welcoming,
home-like feel
Are the children in your care deeply engrossed in their
activities, or are many at loose ends? The difference may well • Memorability
stem from room layout, good or bad. This booklet is meant to
help you understand the difference.
Spend time with these pages and study some of the works
referenced here. We hope it helps you create spaces your
children will remember, even decades later, with love.
Your friends at Community Playthings

2
 Activity Areas
The most neglected and Motivated children will learn • Location: Where is it in relation
through discovery, and this self- to other physical features and
misunderstood dimension of
teaching process is key to a child’s other activity areas?
the planned curriculum is the development. The best childcare • Boundaries: How well is the
creation of an environment or practitioners know that learning area defined?
is a matter of discovery. Reason-
setting in which education is • Play and Seating Surfaces: are
ing with a kindergarten child
they appropriate to the activities
to take place. about fulcrums and centres of
they support?
gravity may be fruitless, but a
Blenkin & Whitehead three-year-old who builds a lop- • Storage: The materials children
sided tower soon discovers how to need in each activity area should
“Open structure” rooms let balance the blocks and distribute be stored conveniently at hand,
children choose from a variety of weight evenly! and displayed attractively for
activity stations. There may be an effective use.
area for reading, a block area, an Many factors contribute to
• Mood: Is the mood of the area
area for projects, an area for active a truly great room layout, to a
appropriate to the function? Is it
play. This room design uses the design that guides and encourages
home-like?
natural interests and impulses of children to learn through play.
children to their best advantage— Childcare professional Anita Olds
children learn to make smooth lists five attributes to consider for
transitions by themselves and each activity station you plan. The
in their own time, much as they next sections of this booklet will
would do if they were playing in discuss these points in detail, for
their own home. It helps them they are the central units from
develop their own routines and which a room grows.
disciplines, and supports happy,
motivated play.

The child’s play with sand or mud is

the earliest stage of experience in
shaping matter. Children who are
gifted in this way will soon do work
of real merit. The transition from play
to work is hardly noticeable.

Eberhard Arnold

3
 Location
We are all familiar with a real Room Regions on the floor. These activities do
estate agent’s jingle: “location, and Zones best in a protected or somewhat
location, location.” When secluded corner.
The most successful childcare
considering your room layout The Outdoor Zone. The play-
rooms are divided into two
and the location of each activity ground is the most important
regions, wet and dry. This just
area, there are a few concepts to means that the entry area and zone. With rapid urbanization and
keep in mind. messy zones like sand and water shrinking wilderness, a child’s last
centres are planned into the opportunity to enjoy nature may
Predictability layout in a practical fashion. lie in the outdoor play space of
Consider these “zones,” suggested a day care centre . Rather than a
Institutional settings are
by Anita Olds as a sensible way to blacktopped surface with arbitrarily
inherently unpredictable: one
organize a classroom. placed climbing equipment. We
is never sure what will happen recommend a natural environment
Wet Region
next, who will arrive, and for that will encourage rich educational
what purpose. Unpredictability 1. The Entry Zone is where opportunities such as:
children’s personal effects are
increases children’s lack of • Climbing trees
stored. There should be a place
ease and control. • Rolling down hills
where children can sit to dress/
Anita Olds undress. Sometimes a door in • Mud pies
the entry zone opens onto the • Building forts
Children love to explore and playground.
discover, but they also rely on • Hide and seek
2. The Messy Zone can contain
a certain level of predictability; • Collecting bugs
they like to be in control of their tables, chairs, easels, woodworking
benches, sand and water centres, • Playing in bushes
environment. They like to know
what’s going on and what will nature study, and a kitchen area. It • Exploring woods
happen next. Entries and exits needs to have access to sinks, and • Gardening
ideally, access to the outside play
need to be clearly defined, and • Sand box play
pathways direct. Activity areas area. This is also the most natural
zone to gather the entire group for Don’t forget to offer challenging
need to be inviting islands, and vigorous activities with trikes,
with room to detour around mealtimes, etc. Floor surface is an
important consideration here. bikes, scooters and wheeled vehicles.
them. Even the layout of the Hollow blocks (indoors and out)
building itself matters. Children Dry Region
provide the ideal combination of
find clusters of rooms more 3. The Active Zone (Dry region) large muscle and cognitive devel-
predictable than long corridors. supports large motor play, wheeled opment. A swing is a good place
• Doorways should be obvious vehicles, music and movement, for a child to gain respite from the
• Traffic flow should be intuitive climbing and dramatic play. demands of group care. If you don’t
• Rooms or areas should be 4. The Quiet Zone (Dry region) have an outdoor space, you can
arranged in a cluster rather than contains blocks, manipulatives, always bring nature in.
along a corridor construction toys, puzzles, books,
games or just places to be cosy.
Many of these activities happen

4
Boundaries
Boundaries protect children’s interplay to create this sense of different types of behavior. “A
activities from traffic, lunch and defined area: meandering pathway with forks
other distractions encouraging • Paths and T’s encourages shopping for an
longer-lasting, sustained play. • Movement appropriate activity and perhaps
Even in a small room, you can • Freedom to Explore observing the activities of others.
create well-defined activity areas • Privacy A straight pathway with one
and children will exhibit a higher beginning and one ending emph-
degree of exploratory behavior asizes reaching the destination.
Paths
and social interaction. Efficient Unbroken paths encourage, perhaps
boundaries double as display and A total absence of path, even insist upon, running.”
shelving space. These boundaries because of too much
need not be permanent and must equipment placed too close Movement
not interfere with supervision. together, is very disruptive. …movement is considered
Often a carpet or similar visual
Kritchevsky and Prescott to be the bedrock of all
boundary defines space. But
physical dividers can be used as intellectual development…
When paths are well defined,
well, solid or clear, high or low. often it is merely limited
children move quickly and easily
They can be made of fabric, wicker from one activity to another. opportunities for movement
or lattice, or of shelving. Some Ideally, paths detour around that create many so-called
carers even create a small corral or activity spaces. They go to a behavioral and learning
“sunken theater” to prevent toys destination that is clearly visible difficulties.
from getting scattered. from a child’s point of view.
Anita Olds
Often, children want to save Most of all, they don’t lead into
their projects so they can continue dead space. Dead space often Children need scope for movement.
them the next day. Edgington occurs when activity areas Carers can direct movement so
(1998) reports that if children are placed around the wall, that it is safe and doesn’t disrupt
are allowed to follow an interest leaving open floor in the centre other activities. Climb-and-slide
over a period of time, motivation of a room. Instead of moving equipment, like a toddler town
and concentration improve. Clear through dead space, children or nursery gym, can provide this
boundaries protect the work and tend to get stuck and distracted movement. These units are designed
play of children. Many concepts in counterproductive activities. to suggest appropriate activity to a
Teachers can avoid dead space child.
by placing a low activity area in
the centre of the room, causing Annemarie Arnold (1940)
a natural path to form around it recommends that childcare
and into other activities. professionals “let children follow
their own interests. If the whole
Jim Greenman (1988) observes interest of the child is captured, it
that different paths encourage will be creative.”

5
 Freedom to Explore Jim Greenman (1988) points Variety and complexity can
out a drawback to defining entertain children for a long
If you want to do something areas by content: “It is easy to time, but it is important that
good for a child… give him an lose sight of the reality that opportunities and places are
the content exists everywhere created where children can simply
environment where he can touch
in many activities. Instead of be. It is wonderful to have a few
things as much as he wants. a grand conception of art as simple units where a child can play
both an approach to the world alone.
Buckminster Fuller
and a manifestation of life’s
Children instinctively recognize
grandeur, art becomes a narrowly
Richness of experience, not tidy the most protected, secure space
defined set of activities in a set
in a room. It is often the corner
perfection, is the point of the location. Science is viewed not
directly opposite the entry. This is
as a process of investigation
whole thing. probably the ideal place for a quiet
…but as a selection of materials
zone, a place where children can go
Katherine Whitehorn and experiments.” The most
for a bit of privacy.
inspiring rooms are organized
Children need to explore using from a perspective that encourages Cubbies and comfortable
all their senses. It is important children to move, explore and corners are a child’s favorite. They
to allow children to move freely experiment, not a housekeeping find it reassuring to put their
between activity centres to perspective that encourages backs against something solid.
explore and experiment, mix and children to sit still, be quiet and Even adults feel this way! This is
match. Hutt et al (1989) observed not disturb the order of the centre. why many people find a hospital
a centre where staff would not waiting room unnerving—it
allow the activity areas to “cross- Children need the freedom to:
is often a large, open space
pollinate,” unwittingly preventing • Explore using all their senses crisscrossed with chairs. Activity
the children from making • Move between activity centres happens behind and around the
connections in the life-learning • Mix or connect different activities chairs, making security and quiet
process. Dramatic play costumes waiting an impossibility. Provide
want to find their way into the Privacy lots of softness in the room,
kitchen corner. It’s a natural result promoting a sense of security.
of role-play. Allow children to take In an ideal setting the children
the art materials to the block area have access to rooms where
to make traffic signs for the city, or
they can withdraw from the
use the toy animals on the farm.
main group if they wish, to
play without interruption, to
relax and daydream.

Mark Dudek

6
Play and Sitting Surfaces
Anita Olds asks if playing and They may do these things alone Encourage variety:
sitting surfaces are appropriate or in groups of two or three. So • Small motor activities and large
to the activities they support. it makes sense to have different muscle play
Consider each area: what do props to support the different • Solitary play and cooperative
children do in this area? What activities that books suggest. group play
props do they need to support • Open-ended play and
Paper and crayons in the
this activity? prescribed activities
book corner encourage children
• Sensory stimulation and islands
to copy pictures or letters.
Variety To encourage make-believe,
of quiet
Children’s play areas can offer you might have costumes,
a variety of occupations, and to encourage singing, some
a variety of places in which musical instruments. Have a
to do them. A bookshelf, for listening centre to hear books on
example, offers picture books and tape. If you want to encourage
reading books, fiction and fact, collaboration, perhaps you
songbooks and reference books. will have a couch instead of
Some children will read the text. individual chairs.
Others will look at the pictures
or make believe they are reading, This variety can reach all areas
or perhaps sing from them. Still of the indoors and outdoors. A
others will copy text or pictures. wide variety of activities stretches
children’s imaginations and keeps
them interested.
Storage
What teacher hasn’t thought Some centres support literacy and improvements. Avoid built-ins,
about storage? There never seems by displaying books that relate to and rather consider moveable stor-
to be enough. As one of the five what is going on in the various age shelves. This allows manipula-
most important attributes of activity areas, right in such areas, tion of the environment by teachers
activity centres, storage needs to rather than just in the book corner. and children.
be considered early in the room
Well-designed storage shelves With moveable furniture and
layout process, or both teachers
accommodate vertical display on equipment, flexibility in room lay-
and children will be frustrated in
their backs. This supports the out becomes a powerful tool. Eight
their use of the room.
logical practice of using shelving reasons for this are:
Jim Greenman’s (1988) list of to define the boundaries of • Changes in enrollment
characteristics of good storage is activity areas, and saves precious
helpful. Good storage is: wall space. • New staff with different
preferences
• Located close to the point of use Don’t neglect the need for • Different groups with different
• Able to comfortably hold and personal storage. Children get needs
distinctively display contents their cubbies, but teachers, too,
when open. • Seasonal changes
need space they can call their own.
• The right size and shape for the • Changes in children’s interests,
The variety of materials educational objectives, etc.
space. employed in a particular activity
• Aesthetically pleasing. • Adapting the environment to
area needs careful consideration.
meet behavioral needs
• Clear and understandable to its Books, manipulatives, sand
user, whether 20 months or 20 and water, blocks, large muscle • Letting children change their
years old. play—each has its particular environment to suit their play
• Safe characteristics which must be • Creating ADA- compliant spaces
reflected in the storage methods by being able to move shelving
employed there. and equipment to accommodate
The mention of display above adaptive equipment
deserves special attention.
The tops of shelving can hold
Flexibility With portable screens and
children’s sculptures, found The ideal room is an empty shell dividers, you can create versatile,
objects, or nature exhibits, if filled with moveable furniture. changeable interest areas that hold
they are deep enough and at Built-in features severely restrict children’s attention. For example,
the right height. This practice flexible room arrangements and expand an area for a group gather-
conveys without words that this the opportunity for future changes ing or instantly create a small cosy
is the children’s space, and it space for individual work. Supply
demonstrates the respect the children with large hollow blocks,
teacher holds for their work. boxes, and pillows so they can create
spaces to suit their play.

8
 Mood
Is the mood of the area playing alone. It has simple and entry and reception area. Prasad
appropriate to the function? potential units, broader paths (2000) comments that “…clear
and more empty space. There are but non-intimidating siting of
Is it home-like?” also problems associated with an office or reception desk …
Anita Olds
too much space. Children easily can … help people be at ease and
experience a sense of feeling lost feel that they belong.” Design
Empty Space in large empty spaces. Their play plays a big part in this sense of
becomes more frantic making it welcome. In general, curves are
Larger numbers of children…
difficult for the staff to adequately perceived as warm and feminine,
need a larger proportion of oversee, and direct learning. while straight lines are hard and
empty space. The findings of This problem can be overcome masculine. Obtuse angles are
our day care study suggest by breaking up a larger area inviting and acute angles are
into smaller activity areas. As in rejecting. To be really welcoming,
that the range of no less everything, there is a fine balance the reception area should be
than one-third to no more between too much and too little! concave in shape. The whole area
than one-half uncovered can be intimately scaled, child-
oriented. A fish tank can work
surface is appropriate to good
Inviting wonders. So can natural light.
organization.
Play has long been Spaces for children need to be
Kritchevsky and Prescott inviting for all. Chizea et al say,
recognized as the key way
“All children—and all adults—
The amount of empty space in an in which children come to should be able to find positive
area affects children’s behavior.
make their own sense of images of the group of people
A tightly organized space has
with whom they feel themselves to
a high proportion of complex their often confusing world.
be identified. This includes issues
units, narrow paths, and less Play provides a rich method of culture, ethnicity, age and
space around the units. It may
for children to express gender, and also people abilities/
encourage more interaction.
what they know and, most disabilities.”
On the other hand, a number
of researchers (Bates 1996 and significantly, how they feel Some parents will want
Corin Hutt 1972) record that an about the world and their to drop off their children and
over-crowded room leads to more go. Well-designed space will
aggressive behavior. relationships. encourage them to stay and
Marjorie Ouvry interact, a bridge between home
A loosely organized space
and the big, impersonal world. It
slows the pace of the centre
says: we understand children; you
down, and encourages more
The first impression children and can be a child here!
parents gain from a centre is its

9
 To make an area welcoming it Jim Greenman (1988) notes, It is a beautiful thing to
should include: “Objects lay claim to our feelings
because of associations and see a child thoroughly
• Opportunities for play
qualities of the objects. Wood, absorbed in his play… Play
• Creative use of light, both
leather, and some natural stone brings joy, contentment, and
natural and artificial
and brick objects beckon to be
• Curves as opposed to straight touched. Objects made of these detachment from the troubles
lines materials tend to wear with grace. of the day. And especially
• Obtuse angles rather than acute The smoothings and cracks and
nowadays, in our hectic, time-
ones weathering and nicks often add
character.” and money-driven culture,
• Concave rather than convex
shape Memorable centres are places the importance of those
• Opportunities to explore of wonder and enchantment. They things for every child cannot
• Counters and interest areas at a do not feel completely civilized be emphasized enough.
child’s height and repressed. Much loved places
are frequently found outdoors. Johann Christoph Arnold
• Opportunities to work on the
They may include trees with long
floor
bent branches, the smell of ripe
tomatoes, the sound of water,
Memorable
the feel of dew-wet grass, and the
A spirited place satisfies taste of a radish. The challenge for
childcare practitioners is to create
children’s souls. It possesses
such child-friendly areas within
a wholeness that makes the our own indoor and outdoor
heart sing, the soul rejoice, environments, to foster places
of freedom and delight where
the body feel safe and at
the enchantments and mysteries
rest. It is the spirit of a place of childhood can be given full
that makes it memorable, expression.

that expands our sense of

possibility and puts us in
touch with what is most
loving, creative, and human
about ourselves.

Anita Olds

10
 Complexity

Children need equipment with

enough complexity to hold their
interest for an extended time.
Kritchevsky (1977) suggests that
equipment can be categorized into
four types:

Equipment and Materials

A Potential Unit is a clearly defined
So far this book has considered Play places are linked to the space with no play materials, for ex-
the layout of individual activity complexity of each unit. (See sidebar ample, an empty table. It is important
areas in a room. What about the and chart.) to identify these areas and predict the
actual equipment and materials kind of activities that may develop.
for your room? If you bear these Stimulation (0 play places.)
points in mind, it should help you
Nature provides the perfect example A Simple Play Unit has only one
through the often bewildering
of an environment that gently obvious use, and no sub-parts or
choices that must be made.
stimulates all the senses in a variety additional materials. Consider a
of different ways. Large areas like tricycle or a swing. Usually only one
Amount-to-do the earth, the sky, and the grass child can play with a simple play
Are there enough units in your are green, blue or various shades of unit, and sometimes that is just what
room to keep children occupied brown. The smaller points of colour is needed. (1 play place.)
happily? The right balance helps are mainly primary colours. Blue,
A Complex Play Unit has sub-
to avoid conflicts over one unit, green, and brown are calm colours,
parts or several materials that allow
and lets children move quickly while red and yellow are exciting.
you to improvise. A nursery gym
from one play place to the next. Nature deeply satisfies our other
is considered a complex play unit.
Conversely, if there is only one four senses too. It is a source of
Children may also discover that by
play place per child, a child who inspiration informing our children
combining two simpler units they can
finishes his activity will have of the environment around them.
create a more exciting system. When
very little choice over what he
Light and reflection help bring road signs are added to the tricycle
does next.
this level of interest indoors, as the area, it becomes a city street.
The amount-to-do formula movement sparked by the Italian
Unit blocks are inherently open-end-
can help avoid conflicts district of Reggio Emelia has
ed. When cars, trucks, farm animals,
(Kritchevsky 1977). Compare demonstrated so delightfully. Look
and toy figures are added to a block
layout to a game of musical chairs. for opportunities for interplay
set, the level of interest is raised, but
When “the music stops” there between light and shadow, like a
the way in which the blocks are used
should be plenty of play places rattan screen hanging in a window
becomes more specific. (4 play places.)
to choose from, well over 1.5 per and blowing in the breeze. Mirrors
child. Divide the number of play stimulate beautiful play. A Super Play Unit has three or more
places by the number of children play materials, for example: a home
expected to play there to help you corner with dolls, dishes and dramatic
establish successful layouts. play costumes. (8 play places.)

Example Number of Number of Different Number of Play

Obvious Uses Sub-parts or Materials Places per Unit
Potential Unit Empty Table 0 0 0
Simple Play Unit Tricycle 1 0 1
Complex Play Unit Sand & Water Table Multiple 1 or 2 4
Super Play Unit Home corner with Multiple 3 or more 8
dolls, dishes, and costumes
About contrasts…

Anita Olds (2000) suggests that

variety in the following six
contrasts simulate the choices
nature would give a child.

• In/Out: the contrast between When moving from Supportive Environment

indoors and outdoors (accented one contrast to another, the A supportive environment helps
by windows, porches, fences, change needs to be gradual children fulfill their own needs.
transition areas) and predictable so as not to Children love to hang up their
• Up/Down: varying heights of intimidate. A transition area helps coats, turn on the light, turn
floor and ceiling (steps, ramps, alert the children that they are on taps, and open doors and
lofts) entering a new area with different cupboards. They can do this when
• Light/Dark: bright areas and limits and possibilities. This materials are at the point of use
dimmer corners (lattices, link may involve a doormat, a and accessible. Areas in a room
screens, curtains, awnings, doorstep, or there may be a porch can be designed to convey their
shadows) or entryway with lockers. possibilities and limits. This helps
• Exposed/Tempered: wet and Consider: children understand what activity
dry, hot and cold, windblown • Equipment is appropriate in that area. They
and still (porch, garden wall, • Floor surface: carpet, tile, wood can move from place to place
shrubs, shade) without a lot of guidance. Choice
• Outside surface: pavement, of activity is empowering.
• Something/Nothing: the grass, bare earth, etc.
contrast between a wall and • Walls, fences, windows, Studies show that the
a window, empty or cluttered dividers, screens, shelving arrangement of materials and
space (window seat, arches, equipment has an effect on
alcoves, corners) • Ceiling, roofs, trees, canopies how they are used. Nash (1981)
hung from ceilings observed that materials and
• Order/Mystery: the contrast
between order and chaos, equipment stored close to each
predictability and surprise other were often used together.
(partially concealed entrances, Teets (1985) found that when
winding paths, possibilities for materials were displayed system-
discovery) atically, children could see how
the materials were categorized
and made much better use of
them. The arrangement of equip-
ment supported learning and
self-reliance without continuous
teacher intervention.

12
A Quick Guide to Space Planning
The fixed features of a building can constrain its partitions and shelving. Consider, too, features like
interior design. Where possible, the fixed features electrical outlets, plumbing, floor surfacing, and
should be kept to a minimum to allow for greater lighting, including all-important natural light from
flexibility. For example, try to keep to the min- windows. Once the room is created, here is a step-
imum of two doors per room and avoid built-in by-step guide on how to lay it out.

1. Make an overall
room plan.
• See Community Playthings
Room Planner
• Mark in all the fixed features
—windows, doors, sinks,
floor surfacing

2. Mark in the flow.

Must access all doors and areas
directly, without going through
another activity area.

13
 3. Divide into
wet and dry regions.
The wet region should include the
sink, the main entry, and the exit to
the outdoor play area. The dry region
should contain at least one protected
corner (i.e. a corner without doors).
The wet region should be a cleanable
floor surface like tile, and the dry
region carpeted.

4. Divide into zones.

Wet region: entry zone and messy zone
Dry region: active zone and quiet zone
1. Entry Zone
2. Messy Zone
3. Active Zone
4. Quiet Zone
5. Outdoor Zone

5. Decide what activity areas are

needed and locate them in the
appropriate zone.
Entry/ Quiet Zone Messy Zone Active Zone Outdoors Additional spaces
Transition Zone
Children’s Sleeping / Toileting or Large blocks Imaginative Play Large group
personal storage Resting Changing meeting
Staff personal Reading Eating / Snack Dramatic play Building & Private
storage Construction & semi-private
Parent sign-in & Listening Water Housekeeping Physical activity & Staff work area &
communication movement telephone
Manipulatives Sand Doll play Small motor Staff project storage
activity
Writing Clay Miniatures Horticultural work
Small Blocks Painting Puppet play & Scientific and
Store front Environmental discovery
Math Collages Music & Quiet Play
Woodworking Movement
Cooking Gross motor play
Science & Nature
Pets

14
6. Create a space
for each area.
This space includes storage for
items used in that area. It commu-
nicates possibilities and limitations.
For example, a space with little
cozy nooks communicates, “Here
is a place for quiet play.” An arch
across the entry tells you, “Leave
your tricycle outside. You are enter-
ing a protected space.”
Bibliography
Arnold, A. 1940. The Place of ‘Hort’ in the Life of Hutt, S. et al. 1989. Play, Exploration and Learning: A
Bruderhof Children, Bruderhof Curriculum Natural History of the Preschool, London: Routledge
Arnold, E. 1976. Children’s Education in Community, Kritchevsky, S. & Prescott, E. & Walling, L. 1977.
Bruderhof Curriculum Planning Environments for Young Children, Physical
Arnold, J.C. 2000. Endangered: Your Child in a Space, NAEYC
Hostile World, Plough Publishing House Lasenby, M. 1990. The Early Years. A Curriculum for
Bates, B. 1996 ‘Like Rats in a Rage’ The Times Young Children. Outdoor Play, London: Harcourt
Education Supplement, Sept 20th Brace Jovanovich
Blenkin, G.M. & Whitehead, M. 1988. ‘Creating Moyles, J. 1992. Just Playing?, Open University Press
a context for development’, in Blenkin, G.M. and Nash, B. 1981. ‘The effects of classroom spatial
Kelly, A.V. (eds) Early Childhood Education. A organization on four- and five-year-old children’s
Developmental Curriculum, 32-60. London: Paul learning’, British Journal of Educational Psychology
Chapman Publishing. Olds, A. 2000. Child Care Design Guide, McGraw-Hill
Chizea, C., Henderson, A. & Jones, G. Inclusion, PLA Ouvry, M. 2000. Exercising Muscles and Minds,
Dudek, M. 2001. Building for Young Children, National Early Years Network
National Early Years Network Prasad, S. 2000. Spaces and Places, UpStart! 03, DfEE
Edgington, M. 1999. The Nursery Teacher in Action, Publications
(2nd edn.) London: Paul Chapman Publishing Stone, J. 1991. A Guide to Discipline, NAEYC
Edwards et al. 1993. The Hundred Languages of Chil- Teets, S.T. 1985. ‘Modifications of play behaviors of
dren-The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood preschool children through manipulation of envi-
Education, Norwood, NJ: Ablex. ronmental variables’, in Frost, J.L. and Sunderlin, S.
Fuller, B. Letter to Children of Earth quoted in (eds) When Children Play. Proceedings of the Inter-
Greenman, J. 1988. Caring Spaces, Learning Places, national Conference on Play and Play Environments,
Exchange Press Inc. Wheaton, MD: Association for Childhood Education
Greenman, J. 1988. Caring Spaces, Learning Places, International.
Exchange Press Inc. Whitehorn, K. quoted in Greenman, J. 1988. Caring
Gura, P. 1992. Exploring Learning, Paul Chapman Spaces, Learning Places, Exchange Press Inc.
Publishing
Hutt, C. 1972. Males and Females, Harmondsworth:
Penguin Education

A special ‘Thank You!’

to the children, parents, and staff of the following childcare centres:
Cyert Center for Early Education, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Louise Child Care, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
New Meadow Run Bruderhof Childcare Center, Farmington, PA, USA
Pen Green Family Centre, Corby, England
Shady Lane School, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
The Day School at the Children’s Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Tot Spot, Montgomery, NY, USA
University Child Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

16
 Building for Additional Resources
Young Children
for Room Design
Dudek, M. 2001.
National Early www.cabe.org.uk
Years Network
Caring Spaces, Learning Places, Greenman, J. 1988.
Exchange Press Inc.

Designing for 3-4 year olds, 1999.

A step-by-step guide to planning, designing and Department for Education & Employment, UK.
building for children and their families. Using case
studies illustrated by building plans and photographs, Child Care Design Guide, Olds, A. 2000.
it answers crucial questions for those who wish to McGraw-Hill
create the right environment:
Planning Environments for Young Children,
What is state of the art in architecture for children under Kritchevsky, S. & Prescott, E. & Walling, L. 1977.
five with particular reference to new research being Physical Space, NAEYC
carried out into the needs of 0 to 3-year-old children?
Building for Young Children, Dudek, M. 2001.
How do you commission new buildings for young National Early Years Network, London, 020 7607 9573
children particularly in relation to the UK government’s
major new programme of family centres, the Sure Start
Units? Free Catalogues
How do early years managers and architects work Community Playthings Catalogue
together? Fully illustrated catalogue of standard play equipment
What are the key stages in managing a design and and furniture for childcare centres.
construction project of this type? How do you bring Rifton Equipment Catalogue
an existing space to life and use all its best qualities
Fully illustrated catalogue of adaptive equipment for
for childcare? children with disabilities.

Child Care
Design Guide
Anita Rui Olds
2000. McGraw-Hill
352 pages $42.00

Helps architects understand

the needs of children and
design functional, devel-
opmentally rich, pleasing
centres. Helps child care
professionals understand
architects’ design issues. Author Anita Rui
Olds brings to this work over 25 years of design experience Community Playthings
with children’s facilities. Step-by-step explanations of Room Planner
interior and exterior layout and design principles. Over
If you need to organize a classroom, ask for our
300 floor plans for infant and toddler, preschool, and Community Playthings Room Planner, featured in this
after-school spaces, plus areas for outdoor play and more. booklet. This tool enables you to arrange “footprint”
In the US, order from Community Playthings by calling templates of all Community Playthings classroom
800-777-4244. furniture on a floor plan grid of your room, drawn with
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Please call for more information.

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UK: 0800 387 457
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 Quick reference
for room design
1. Draw your room onto a Planner
sheet
2. Mark fixed features like doors and
windows, plumbing, fixed storage,
floor surfaces
3. Mark in the flow, or paths
4. Establish a wet region and a dry
region
5. Divide your room into zones
within the wet and dry regions:
Entry Zone, Messy Zone, Active
Zone, Quiet Zone
It is not the clay the potter throws
6. Decide on the appropriate activity
that gives the jar its usefulness,
areas for each zone:
but the space within. · Blocks
Lao-Tzu, Chinese Philosopher · Reading
· Sensory Play
· Dramatic Play
· Art Area
· Large Muscle Play
· Music Appreciation
· Quiet Corner
7. Provide for storage and display in
each activity area
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