Transforming Your Outdoor Early Learning Environment

Introduction to Transforming Your Outdoor Early Learning Environment

Visiting early childhood practicum students in a wide variety of environments has been one of my pleasures and passions. One program is quaint and welcoming, while another is filled with rich play opportunities for children. I never know until I arrive what the program’s characteristics will be. I find that I am drawn to imperfect programs, but the feel and environment are important. A good program, I have determined over the years, must always be filled with joy, warmth, connections, a sense of belonging, flexible spaces, intriguing loose parts, engagement, risk, reflection, and intentional educators. That is quite a list of qualities, and they are not seen in every program.

Unfortunately, today is one of those days when I am observing a program that lacks many of these qualities. Upon my arrival, I am escorted to an outdoor play space that is hot and narrow with an asphalt surface. A few random plastic toys clutter the area. The air is filled with arguing as 12 children compete for limited plastic riding toys. Lucky children attempt to maneuver riding toys in the limited space. Some children run around aimlessly while two children stand and stare. There is no evidence of the natural world. The practicum student tries to remain positive, but she assumes an authoritarian role as she strives to maintain some sense of order. My heart aches for the children, families, and teachers of this program. It does not have to be this way. Simple ways exist to transform sterile outdoor areas into beautiful, captivating, and engaging spaces, even with limited resources.

Thoughtfully planned outdoor classrooms provide active play opportunities that are vital to young children’s healthy development. Children thrive as they explore and engage in beautiful environments with natural elements. Inspiring outdoor learning spaces improve children’s wellbeing, support learning and development, change behavior, and encourage healthy risk-taking. An effective outdoor environment, however, depends greatly on design and materials. Outdoor play yards come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, with diverse circumstances that may be considered a delight or a barrier: size, ground coverings, permanent features, natural elements, storage, and resources. When design obstacles are viewed as opportunity rather than a challenge, many creative and favorable possibilities emerge.

Outdoor play zones for all ages of children follow the same principles, but aspects of the environment require different considerations. We adjust ground surfaces, equipment heights, and the size of the space to meet developmental needs. A smaller protected sand area is appropriate for infants and toddlers, while an expansive sand area is needed for the active play of preschoolers and school-aged children. Children can use the same loose parts according to their interests and abilities. An infant crawls up a wood plank propped on a tire. A toddler walks up the inclined plank and jumps off the tire to the grass below. A preschooler jumps from tire to tire. A school-aged child designs an elaborate obstacle course using tires and planks.

Reflected in this book are outdoor design ideas geared for young children ages zero to five, although the design ideas are suitable for schoolaged children as well. In fact, two of my recent memories involve schoolaged children’s active engagement with transformed environments. The first incident occurred at an open house for a renovated family child care outdoor environment. Older siblings of children attending the program were captivated all afternoon. Their sustained engagement and actions with sand and the mud kitchen were a delight to watch. The second incident happened as I finished transforming a toddler yard on a rural elementary school campus. The school is a one-room classroom consisting of kindergarten through third grade students. The older children kept peeking at our construction work throughout the installation day but were redirected by their teachers to other areas of the play yard. Upon completion of the yard, I invited the children to come check it out. They were immediately enthralled with the trajectory wall, where objects or water can slide down ramps and through tubing, and with the sand area. These students are lucky, as they will have access to the play zones during their outdoor time.

Design ideas appropriate for both center- and home-based environments are included in this book. Outdoor play zones are the same for each program type, but various aspects of the environment require different considerations. Creating outdoor spaces in family child care programs, for example, requires thought concerning home and child care usage needs. Space may be limited in home programs, or providers may want to maintain adult spaces when children are not present. Many of the book’s images are taken in family child care environments. Hopefully the photos will inspire you to create distinctive spaces, whether at a home- or center-based program.

This book invites you to reimagine and reconstruct your image of conventional play yards and create beautiful outdoor learning spaces on a limited budget, using natural elements and loose parts that offer children opportunities for irresistible engaging explorations. Join me on a journey to transform outdoor play environments as I share ideas, inspiration, and benefits for changing your own outdoor environment. Learn the basics for designing, transforming, and maintaining specific outdoor play zones.

First, I want to be transparent and disclose that I am not a landscape or playground architect. I am a retired early childhood college professor with many years of practical experience as a classroom educator and administrator in preschool, parent cooperative, and college lab settings. I know children, development, and learning well. I can spot what children find fascinating, and I know how to set up spaces to support and extend their interests. Recently I have been mentoring educators in transforming their thinking and environments. During mentoring sessions, I use an approach that results in amazing transformation of play yards, educator thinking, and children’s behavior, learning, and play opportunities. Many educators have asked about this process. I am happy to share my joy and design plan for transforming outdoor environments with you here.

Chapter Organization

Chapters are organized according to play zones, selected because of their potential to encourage schema learning (repeating patterns in children’s play), play themes, and developmentally appropriate learning. Zones can be clustered into creative (art studios, clay studios, sound gardens), imaginative (mud kitchens and small worlds), active (construction, trajectory, and large motor), sensory (sand and water), and quiet (cozy areas):

Art studio: a space for children to do art outside, such as drawing or painting on surfaces with different media and designing, modeling, or transforming materials in new ways

Clay studio: a space for children to express their energy, creativity, emotions, and ideas as they manipulate natural clay

Sound garden: a space for sound exploration, using upcycled materials such as pots and pans for children to explore pitch, dynamics, tempo, and rhythm

Mud kitchen: sometimes referred to as an outdoor kitchen, a space designed for children to pretend to cook, mix concoctions, experiment, and transform

Small world: imaginative play experiences in miniature, similar to a fairy garden or dollhouse; playscapes that promote dramatic play and expand children’s imaginations

Construction zone: a space for building real and imaginary structures on a larger scale than indoors

Trajectory zone: an area to explore moving objects, featured as a trajectory wall with inclines secured to a vertical surface or offered in other zones such as sand and water

Large-motor zone: a space with large loose parts, such as tires, crates, planks, and ladders, that provides an alternative to fixed play equipment

Sand zone: a spacious area of sand for children to dig, tunnel, trench, excavate, dump, and make sandcastles and mud pies

Water zone: a sensory play area for children to freely explore the physical properties of water with a wide variety of containers, tools, and loose parts

Cozy spaces and hiding places: protected, peaceful, and safe refuges for children to have solitude, relax, or self-regulate, alone or with a friend

Value of the Zone

Each chapter begins with a vignette story followed by an introduction to the value of the zone for children’s development.

Schema Learning

In each chapter you will discover ways that common action schemas are spotted in the play zone. I encourage you to intentionally look for these behaviors and implement the ideas to enhance schema learning. It is important to look for patterns in behavior and not just isolated incidents. Be creative in discovering additional ways and opportunities for children to explore schemas.

Fostering Learning in the Zone

Highlighting stories of children at play, this section covers how play in the area fosters children’s competencies, development, and learning in social and emotional, language and communication, cognitive, physical, and expressive arts domains.

Essential Components

Practical guidance is provided on the important elements that the zone needs so it will be an engaging and effective play space. There are considerations for zone location, work space, furnishings and materials, loose parts, storage and organization, and cleaning and maintaining the area. Advice is given about ground surfaces, functionality, setup, and special touches to enhance and beautify the space.

Before and After Photos

In each chapter, a before photo of how a zone looked is highlighted alongside a photo taken after a transformation. The before photos demonstrate how a space can be changed for function, organization, and aesthetic appeal with minimal resources. The after photos illustrate creative ideas for designing stunning and captivating play spaces.

Top Tips for Designing the Zone

There is nothing more satisfying than creating a play zone that is beautiful, engaging, organized, and functional, but doing so takes time, hard work, and thoughtfulness. Detailed suggestions for designing each zone are found within the chapter text; however, for those of you who are impatient and like a quick, concise how-to guide, check out the top tips list offered with the after photos.

Tools and Materials

This section includes a list of tools and loose parts that are particularly good for the zone, but please feel free to add your own loose parts ideas. Storage ideas for accessibility, simplicity, and organization are included. Maintenance suggestions highlight ways to ensure safety, cleanliness, and usage.

Images

Rich, vivid photographs illustrate how chapter concepts look in real programs. There are design variations from center-based and home-based early care and education programs, as well as images of how concepts are applied in large and small spaces. Also included are photos of materials, accessories, storage options, organization systems, and children engaged in each zone. I am a visual learner and find that images trigger my creativity and make it easier for me to understand concepts. My hope is that the photographs provide you with inspiration and ideas for creating play spaces with upcycled materials that are captivating, aesthetically beautiful, and engaging.

The Extra Dimension

In this section, a unique idea for adding to the play zone is offered. This is a little something extra that will enrich the play space for children. It may be a creative idea, an unusual furnishing, or a way to make the space more visually appealing.

Supporting Equitable Learning

Adaptations and supports are included to ensure that all children are included as successful, engaged learners in the space. To design a play zone that works for every child, consideration must be given for children with a variety of abilities, languages, cultures, and experiences, as well as ages and sizes.

Adaptations for Infants and Toddlers

Mobile infants and toddlers can engage in all play zones if materials are suitable, safe, and accessible. Tips are provided for adapting play zones so infants and toddlers can freely explore developmentally appropriate materials safely and securely.

Appendices

Appendix A gives an example of the Be, Do, Become process discussed in chapter 1. Appendix B provides a rubric for assessing your current outdoor environment and planning your future transformation. Appendix C is a complete list of the materials, nature materials, and loose parts suggested in the book, organized by chapter.

Beginning the Transformation Journey

Outdoor learning environments should be designed with the same intentionality as indoor learning environments. With creativity and determination, all indoor play zones can be set up outdoors. Furthermore, bringing inside play experiences outdoors can generate new interest and play prospects. Imagine the joy that a child experiences when allowed to freely explore and transform an outdoor environment into whatever they desire, individually or with friends. I recommend that you begin by reading the first chapter, which unpacks the what, why, and how of transforming outdoor learning environments. Then dive into play zone chapters for ideas, inspiration, and benefits, and to learn designing, transforming, and maintenance strategies. May you be encouraged and inspired on your journey to transform captivating outdoor learning environments for young children.

Chapter 1

The What, Why, and How of Transforming Outdoor Learning Environments

Early Head Start funding afforded Maggie the opportunity to receive mentoring while transforming her family child care program into a loose parts play environment. Initially, Maggie and her husband, Randy, wanted to preserve a large portion of their backyard as an adult space without evidence of child care. Throughout the weeks of mentoring and participating in the outdoor transformation process, including a field trip to see the expansive, natural, and captivating environment of another home-based program, Maggie and Randy realized that child care, beauty, and personal space can coexist. With their growing knowledge of the loose parts philosophy and the importance of natural environments, they were willing to commit their entire outdoor area to children’s play. The result was a visually appealing, engaging, natural environment. Today the two enjoy morning coffee and evening dinners in their beautiful yard while children delight in the inspiring environment during the day.

What Is Transforming Your Outdoor Early Learning Environment?

Dreaming about captivating learning spaces in your outdoor environment is exciting, but knowing where to begin or what to do to enhance your space can be challenging and confusing. Following a comprehensive, practical, and effective process will clarify your vision, affirm your values, and direct you in planning an environment with elements that positively affect the children who use them. The what, why, and how components provided here reveal the essential beliefs that serve as the foundation for transforming outdoor play spaces and are intended to guide you from project inception to installation.

The Transforming Your Outdoor Early Learning Environment approach is one that does the following:

Requires minimal resources: Many early childhood programs survive on limited operating funding. Often most startup funds are delegated to materials and equipment for the interior environment, leaving little or no resources for outdoor play spaces. The good news is that money is not necessarily a barrier. Engaging outdoor play zones may be created with imagination, effort, knowledge of community resources, volunteer help, and minimal cash.

Features loose parts: Loose parts are fundamental materials for every outdoor play zone. Their availability, versatility, economic feasibility, sustainability, and attractiveness make them the perfect open-ended items for children’s play. The undefined nature of loose parts allows for maximum creative use in children’s play.

Uses upcycled materials: Sustainability is one of the biggest challenges that currently faces our planet. Educating the next generation to be good stewards and being one yourself are top priorities. One way to help children learn about their impact on the environment is through the reuse of materials. Finding discarded items and repurposing them to create new play possibilities is a central component of the framework.

Integrates nature: Many children today live in neighborhoods surrounded by asphalt and concrete and have little connection with nature. Contact with nature contributes to the health and well-being of children (Chawla 2015). Adding natural materials such as plants, rocks, and tree trunks gives texture to play surfaces, enhances outdoor play spaces, and connects children and nature. Tree trunks are cut sections of the large central part of a tree. At 12 to 24 inches in width, they sit on end and can range up to 18 inches in height. They are wide enough for children to walk, climb, balance, and sit on.

Emphasizes aesthetics and authenticity: Beauty is a fundamental component of outdoor play spaces. Environments affect how we feel, think, and behave. Surrounding children and educators with art, natural materials, and interesting textures, colors, and sounds enhances the beauty of play spaces. Authentic materials offer an aesthetic attractiveness while providing meaning and relevance to children’s play. Children often prefer to engage with real cooking, art, or gardening tools used by adults rather than play imitations. Generally, real materials are appealing, of greater quality, and more durable. They often work better and are more effective and reliable.

For children, Transforming Your Outdoor Early Learning Environment is an approach that does the following:

Recognizes outdoor play as central to whole-child learning and development: Thoughtfully designed outdoor learning environments support children’s growth and development across the emotional, social, physical, cognitive, and creative domains. Children are capable and competent learners and are the most important individuals in their own learning and development. Giving children many varied outdoor experiences and opportunities supports and challenges their whole learning and development.

Incorporates opportunities for open-ended exploration and active learning: Children learn best through experiential, active learning opportunities. Child-initiated outdoor explorations including loose parts foster creativity, self-discovery, self-direction, self-evaluation, expression of feelings, and freedom of choice. Active learning means the following:

Children control materials rather than the materials controlling the child.

Children decide what they are going to do with the materials and how they are going to use them.

Children can use materials in multiple ways.

Offers intriguing and captivating play spaces: Rich, intriguing environments offer children opportunities for