Effective practice: The Learning Environment

Key messages

N Babies, toddlers and young children thrive best in an environment that supports and promotes
their active learning and development.

N Young children require space, indoors and outdoors, where they can be active or quiet, and
where they can think, dream and watch others.

N The space needs to be appropriate for the age and development of all the children so that they
can have suitable access to it and can interact within it.

N The space needs to be secure, appropriately heated and aired and free from hazards.

N There need to be well-organised areas and resources, both natural and manufactured, which are
accessible to the children.

N There should be opportunities for a range of activities such as soft play, paint mixing, growing
plants, mark-making, looking at books, reading stories, or exploring the properties of materials
such as clay, sand or water.

N The space both indoors and outdoors should preferably be available all the time so children can
choose activities and follow their interests.

N The outdoor space needs to offer shade and shelter, and children should have opportunities to
experience changing seasons and the passing of time.

N In deciding what is an ‘appropriate environment’ it is important to understand the way babies,

toddlers and young children learn and to provide for the age and stage of the children
concerned.

N There is no ideal environment as babies’ and young children’s interests change, and the
environment should change in response to these changing interests.

Why the Learning Environment is important

‘An appropriate environment is key both to safety and to effective learning and development.’
(DfES, 2006).

The Learning Environment involves both the people and the space in which children develop and
learn. An appropriate physical environment is one where children feel safe, cared for and relaxed
because they are in the continuous care of one, or a small number of, adults who are responsible
for them (this includes a childminder’s home). An appropriate physical environment offers access to
an outdoor as well as an indoor space and should provide a place where children have
opportunities to explore, learn and develop with the support of sensitive, knowledgeable adults.

The emotional environment

Knowledgeable adults who children trust and who observe and respond to their needs are an
essential part of the Learning Environment.

The Early Years Foundation Stage 00012-2007CDO-EN

Effective practice: The Learning Environment © Crown copyright 2007

These adults should:

N offera range of experiences and resources which are regularly monitored and refreshed to keep
them safe and stimulating;

N tunein to the children’s interests and interact with them to support and extend their learning and
development, jointly engaging in problem solving and sustained shared thinking;

N respond to observed interests and plan new materials and experiences within the environment
that reflect these;

N monitor materials, children’s involvement and their own involvement with children to ensure they
offer relevant experiences;

N provide materials that reflect diversity in order to avoid stereotypical images or approaches;

N evaluate their provision to ensure that everything that is provided is of the highest quality.

Outdoor and indoor environments

N The outdoor and indoor environments should contain resources and materials that children can
explore and investigate using all their senses.

N Some of the materials and resources should be familiar to the children from their home and
community environments, and some should be new.

N The best materials have many uses, such as wooden hoops and pegs in a tin, with unlimited
opportunities for children to use them creatively and imaginatively to support their learning and
development.

N Families should be consulted and engaged in choosing the materials and resources the children
use in a setting so that links can be made with home.

N The Learning Environment offers challenges through which children can learn about risk taking
and keeping themselves safe.

N As well as providing opportunities for moving around, environments should offer a variety of
surfaces and levels, places to sit or lie, to climb or swing and to make big movements such as
spinning, dancing, jumping, running and so on.

N Adults need to support children’s confidence in themselves and their developing skills as they
tackle new experiences and develop a sense of what they can do and what they will be able to
do as they practise and meet the challenges in the environment.

N Children need opportunities to dig, to climb, to swing and to control wheeled toys. They should be
able to touch and feel a variety of textures and to move, stretch and crawl. They may like to
make marks, to cut and join materials together or to shape and construct materials.

N They need to be able to rest and refresh themselves when they are ready.

N Children need time to play with what interests them and to make choices.

N They need opportunities to watch the natural world changing, to explore and solve problems.

N Children need opportunities to make friends and develop relationships.

N Children need time to learn and develop at their own pace.

The Early Years Foundation Stage 00012-2007CDO-EN
Effective practice: The Learning Environment © Crown copyright 2007

References

DfES (2006) Early Years Foundation Stage Consultation Document, DfES Publications, Nottingham
(ref. SESCO6_18).

Further resources

Bilton, H. (2005) Learning Outdoors: improving the quality of young children’s play outdoors, David
Fulton Publishers, London.
Using examples of good outdoor practice from a range of early years settings in the London
Borough of Brent this handbook is an accessible source of guidance.

Early Years Outdoors is a dedicated service from Learning Through Landscapes that offers advice,
materials and training to support practitioners in creating a seamless indoor/outdoor environment.
Working with a number of interested experts, a shared vision for outdoor play and set of core
values for high-quality outdoor experiences for babies, toddlers and young children underpins and
drives the service. Learning Through Landscapes: www.ltl.org.uk; [email protected]; tel: 01962
845811.

Edgington, M. (2002) The Great Outdoors: developing children’s learning through outdoor
provision, British Association for Early Childhood Education, London.
Starting from clear principles and considering the outside spaces that practitioners have available,
this short publication helps them to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of those spaces and
how to organise and develop them.

Gura, P. (2001) Resources for Early Learning: children, adults and stuff, Paul Chapman Publishing,
London. This book draws on effective practice and explores the value of a range of resources in
the learning environment to support children’s learning and development.

Lewisham Early Years Advice and Resource Network (2002) A Place to Learn: developing a
stimulating learning environment, Lewisham (tel: 020 8695 9806; [email protected]).
Drawing on their work in many early years settings in Lewisham, south London, the early years
advisers have published this flexible resource with many examples and colour photographs.

Lindon, J., Kelman, K. and Sharpe, A. (2001) Play and Learning for the Under 3s, TSL Education
Ltd, London.
This is a practical book underpinned by sound theory and research which offers many ideas for
adults who work with and provide environments for babies and toddlers.

Ouvry, M. (2000) Exercising Muscles and Minds: outdoor play and the early years curriculum,
National Early Years Network, London.
Using examples of good practice this accessible guide looks at how to plan the outdoors as a
learning environment – and addresses many of the assumptions that may obstruct this process.

Ryder-Richardson, G. (2005) Creating a Space to Grow: the process of developing your outdoor
learning environment, David Fulton Publishers, London.
Using illustrated examples of case studies from the Kent ‘Spaces to Grow’ project, this book guides
practitioners through the process of changing and developing their outdoor environment to
maximise the learning potential for babies, toddlers and young children.

www.forestschools.com
This website gives information about how this movement began and how it develops the natural
outdoor environment for learning. It includes a detailed early years case study and links to other
relevant sites.
 The Early Years Foundation Stage 00012-2007CDO-EN
Effective practice: The Learning Environment © Crown copyright 2007