Play Environments Play and Learning for the Preschool Child Andrea Jablonki

Integrating Indoors and Outdoors Playing Learning Sharing Growing

Play Environments Integrating Indoors and Outdoors School-Age Play Environments Creating Play Environments Creating Special Play Places

Integrating Indoors and Outdoors Children need indoor and outdoor play. It’s crucial for their development and health. Create these environments so that they complement each other and are integrated. This way they’ll have the most positive influence on the children’s learning, growth, & development.

Outdoor Play Areas Characteristics of outdoor play areas: Integrates nature and built playgrounds Includes open spaces Has equipment, natural and built props for jumping, climbing, swinging, and brachiating Has vegetable gardens, natural habitats, variety of plants, and butterfly gardens

Outdoor Play Areas

Benefits of Outdoor Play Enhances motor development and motor skills Promotes manipulative skills Better for loud or messy activities Offer more sensory stimulation Allows high energy, rougher play Essential for good health Encourages peer culture development Allows increased freedom of movement and selecting who to play with Encourages symbolic play Provides more natural materials Enhances fitness Promotes health through fresh air and sunlight

School-Age Play Environments Infant and Toddler Indoor and Outdoor Play Environments Should be separate from older children’s play areas Should be age appropriate and safe Well supervised Encourage make believe play Promote natural play activities Foster sensorimotor play Encourage motor development Provide safe and challenging play structures

Preschool Play Environments Preschool age children (ages 2 to 5) are becoming more independent, using large playground equipment and wheeled vehicles on their own and getting involved in make-believe play more whole-heartedly. Children of these age are also more involved in exercise, construction, and gross-motor play.

Preschool Play Environments Characteristics of Play Areas: Make-believe play areas may include wheeled vehicles, vehicle tracks, playhouses, sand, and water. Construction play should provide lumber, blocks, water, tools, and sand. Playground areas should be larger, more complex and challenging, and include paved and grassy areas for organized play. Formal play areas integrate gross motor play, construction play, and make believe or symbolic play.

Preschool Play Environments

Creating Play Environments First Step, develop a master plan The master plan is an overview or sketch of the entire playground, including the surround area, fences, sidewalks, grassy and paved play areas, gardens, natural features, and the actual playground equipment and apparatus. Parents, teachers, school board officials, caretakers, experts (architects, playground designers & specialists), and children should all take part in designing and creating the playground.

Master Plan

Creating Play Environments Steps to Create A Play Environment: Choose a space Decide on usage patterns Organize and lay out large and fixed equipment Secure all of the equipment and install permanent fixtures (nature areas, fences, storage, and organized game areas)

Creating Special Play Places Transforming playgrounds from the traditional into magical, special, natural play areas: Incorporate favorite places, using garden & natural elements Make them magical – Inspired by storybooks and fairytale worlds – Use real elements, versus the fake as much as possible – Maintain history (old trees, etc.) – Stimulate the senses (use varying textures, colors, and sounds) – Include unusual, as well as familiar, objects – Encourage sacred and special places (provide materials to design and build these “forts”)

Creating Special Play Places

Reference List Frost, J., Reifel, S., & Wortham, S. (2012). Play and Child Development (4 th Ed.) ISBN (Ch. 9)