The ABC of Child Care: P is for…

P is for Playground

The physical environment of a child care centre is more than just a place where children play. The popular early learning philosophy of Reggio Emilia describes the physical environment as the “third” teacher (the first two being the parents and educators). A child’s ability to learn is influenced by the environment he learns and plays in and a thoughtfully designed and planned environment will motivate children to learn. In this post I am going to focus on questions about how the centre maximises the potential of the outdoor space, it’s playground, as a play and learning environment.

Outdoor spaces in child care centres should be about more than just places to run and jump. Although it is imperative that children have time and opportunity to develop healthy bodies through outdoor play, there is absolutely no reason why the playground cannot also be a space for dressing up or reading books or painting or ‘cooking’ in the sandpit. In fact, bringing these types of resource outdoors has the potential to increase the length and depth of children’s play (and therefore learning) interactions.

Let me give you an example. Consider how much more purposefully a child would play if they could first dress up in their favourite fairy dress, then cook a fairy stew with sand, water and flowers which is eaten at the table within the fairy kingdom (a cubby constructed of sheer, brightly coloured fabric) before tip toeing over stepping stones and across a ‘bridge’ into their beautiful, sensory fairy garden. The now weary fairy then sits with her fairy friends on a comfy ‘bed’ of cushions to share fairy stories together. This simple scenario illustrates a child’s outdoor play incorporating aspects of physical, social, dramatic, creative and language play.

When considering a child care centre, look at the available outdoor space and ask yourself these questions;

• Is the play equipment outdoors limited to fixed play structures or do staff add ‘loose’ equipment which can be used for different purposes – these might include large items such as beams, trestles, tyres, crates, boxes, tree stumps and smaller items like rocks, seedpods, shells, fabric or flowers?
• Is adequate provision made for children to play with important sensory elements such as sand and water?
• Does the outdoor space include natural elements, such as plants and trees?
• Does the outdoor environment provide space and equipment for children to develop their gross motor skills – to run, jump, climb, hang, balance, etc?
• Is there space for children to play quietly, space to rest?
• Is there space for creative expression evident in the outdoor environment?
• Are provisions made for imaginative play outdoors?
• Does the outdoor environment look like it has been arranged thoughtfully, with the children’s needs and interests in mind?
• Is the outdoor environment planned by educators? Is there a program which links the equipment in the space to the children’s learning needs and interests?

And in terms of practicalities, you may also like to ask;

• How much time do children spend outdoor each day?
• How many children access the play space at the same time and what are their ages? How do staff supervise and manage the space if children of different ages are playing at the same time?
• What is the centre’s policy on sun protection as it relates to outdoor play times, clothing and sunscreen?
• Is their adequate shaded areas for children to rest out of the sun?
• Is provision made for children to easily access drinking water when they are playing outdoors?
• Is their easy access to bathrooms for children who need to use the toilet whilst playing outdoors?

The ABC of Child Care series of posts aims to illustrate for parents what quality child care looks like in practice as both a tool for parents looking for child care for the first time and as a resource for all parents with children in care. As someone who ran a high quality centre for many years, I believe we all share a responsibility to ask questions and expect results when it comes to the environment and people caring for and educating our youngest and most impressionable citizens. Find the rest of the series here.

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