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Children receive the message that they are in a kind and loving place when caregivers and family members are intentional about the environments they create. This resource will teach home visitors, program staff, caregivers and other early childhood educators how to create a space that is welcoming and homelike for children. First, we want children and youth to know that they can find and use materials on their own. The best way to accomplish this is to store materials on open shelves at a height accessible to all school-age children in the program.
Use the Tools to Use activity to help you arrange and rearrange your environment—all without breaking a sweat! Take a moment to review the resources below and revisit as needed to ensure you are creating a safe, comfortable, and stimulating space for children and youth. You can also invite children to assist with this process, by asking them to draw the items or to help write the words. Whatever you use, cut the labels out and use them to identify the places you store each item. While you are in your learning environment working with school-age children, you should observe the ways they use equipment and materials.
Designing for All
Fix, lock up, or discard anything that might be a danger to children. Be sure all outdoor play areas are fenced in to keep children safe. Appropriate design elements, opportunities for change of space and mood, and everyday reminders of home acknowledge and respect children’s needs to feel safe and secure during the long hours they are in care. Moreover, when parents see images in the center similar to those in their own homes, they feel more comfortable leaving their children there. And when the workplace is warm and welcoming, staff are more relaxed and able to focus on the important work they do. Children in center-based care are spending much of their lives away from their families in surroundings that are, by nature, institutional.
The more time that children spend playing in such an environment, the higher their exposure to toxic chemicals, and the greater a risk to their health. The question of whether a family child care provider is required to be licensed or is license exempt often depends on the number of children the provider cares for. For example, some states require family child care homes to be licensed if they care for more than one child who is not related to the provider. Some states don’t require any regulations unless the provider is caring for six or more children. Living in a group setting for eight to ten hours a day creates inevitable tensions and stresses - even in the best of programs. Positive, nurturing interactions between caregivers and children can reduce the tensions; a home-like environment can ease the stress.
Creating a peaceful environment for young children
In some cultures, too much or too little personal space may make a child feel uncomfortable and could cause unwanted behaviors (Kaiser, B. & Rasminsky, J., 2020). Research tells us that children learn best in environments where they can have secure relationships with caring and responsive adults, where they feel safe, and where they feel free to explore and learn. A well-arranged family child care environment can help you meet children’s needs during play and routines. This lesson highlights the importance of the environment and provides an overview of what to consider when creating and maintaining a developmentally appropriate environment for a mixed-age group of children. Second, we want children to learn to use signs and symbols in the environment to support their independence. One way we help them do this is by carefully labeling objects or the places the objects belong.
However, when designing or redesigning your indoor space, it is also important to consider logistics, aesthetics, organization, and the needs of all children in the space. Our built environments, including child care settings, schools, and neighborhoods, can be sites of harmful chemical contamination. In fact, many toxic chemicals can be found in places where children spend time--home, child care, and school. As a family child care provider, you are in control of all aspects of your child care environment.
Agencies
For example, surfaces that are coarse, uneven, or grainy when contrasted with smooth or soft surfaces encourage children to understand the differences between soft and hard, light and heavy, smooth and rough. Patterns on rugs may be abstract, geometric, floral, or symbolic. They are much more attractive to both children and adults when they are the kind of patterns found on rugs in a home.
Atypical meeting spaces can be adjusted by using sheets, turning shelves around or adding stop signs to minimize distractions and support engagement. Just make sure there is enough space for everybody involved to sit comfortably. Space is very important and can enhance or hinder a child’s learning.
SomeDemographic and Health Surveys and other national household surveys have also collected information on early childhood development, typically with the standard, or modified, versions of the MICS questionnaire. This text has been adapted from content originally created by Child Care Aware of America Grant #90LH002 for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families , Office of Child Care .
Window coverings such as pleated, mesh, or other translucent shades also provide homelike softness. Color - Color can relax or excite; it can be noisy or quiet. Use baskets or cloth containers instead of brightly colored plastic buckets to store toys. Offer babies junk mail or old newspapers to crumple, crinkle and tear.
Children can even be presenters during this time, sharing a new technique, relevant research, or book they found. Having designated spaces for these activities and designing them to minimize distractions can help you make the most of these times. This does not mean you have to have a spot that is used just for group activities. Staff members can get creative and be flexible with these ideas!
Baskets should not be made of materials that could poke or scratch children and should not be used to store materials that can fall out through the holes (e.g., crayons). The steps you take to organize for independence and easy use will also help you keep the space tidy, which can prevent safety hazards (e.g., tripping over materials). Children will know where materials belong, and they will not have to carry materials far from their storage spaces. Furthermore, these strategies help children and youth respect the materials and the classroom environment.
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