Setting Up Infant Toddler Classrooms: The Active Learning Environment

1. Setting Up Infant Toddler Classrooms: The Active Learning Environment Created by Peggy JanitzSpring 2011

2. When we set up a new classroom or when we want to improve an existing classroom, the question is always the same: “What is the best way to set up this room?”

3. And the answer is…. “There are no easy answers. Each situation is different – rooms with different sizes, different shapes, doors in different places, and windows that pose different challenges. There are also different needs of children and staff. Add to this, the fact that needs of children and staff change over time. So you see, there really are no simple answers. But we do have guidelines. The best place for answers: Tender Care and Early Learning, Chapter 3.”

4. We hope this Power Point will help you ….. • Explain the active learning areas needed in an infant room or a toddler room. • Give examples of some ways areas can be set up. • Explain how ITERS and our Curriculum – High Scope describe the areas. • Meet the needs of adults who use the classroom. • Understand how the changing needs of children are our first concern.

5. The Basic Play and Care Areas Infants – 0 to 12 months Toddlers – 12 months to 36 months (at 30 months, space is enhanced) Diapering and toileting area Eating area Napping area Movement area Book area Art area Block area House area Toy area • Diapering area • Eating/bottle preparation area • Sleeping area • Toys or floor space area • Movement area for mobile infants

6. From our High Scope Curriculum and Louis Torelli and Charles Durrett - childcare architects. “We believe that childcare centers should provide infants and toddlers with beautiful environments that support child-directed, child-initiated, and teacher-facilitated play. We also believe that childcare providers deserve highly functional, easy-to-use, and aesthetically attractive work environments.”

7. Those are high goals for the environment! But with lots of planning and hard work, you can create amazing active learning environments for infants, toddlers, and their teachers.

8. The first subscale in ITERS is Space and Furnishings • We must have room to move around for all children including those with special needs and for staff. • Our space needs to be clean, in goodrepair and comfortable temperaturesand lighting. • We need adequate furnishings for routine care such as diapering or eating. • There should be a place for relaxation and comfort. • A room that is easy to supervise with spaces for quiet and active use. • Toys that are easy for children to access.

9. ITERS and Learning Environments • The 3rd subscale in ITERS is Listening and Talking. • Use information to guide set up of the book area. • The 4th subscale in ITERS is Activities. • Use information to guide your set up of areas in the classroom.

10. Use resources such as Tender Care and Early Learning and ITERS….. As you plan or rearrange your classrooms. • Pictures to inspire you! • Lots of details. • Excellent information. • Easy to understand. • Very helpful.

11. Flexibility • We need to be practical and have some areas used for more than one kind of activity. • The eating area is often also the art area. We call it the “messy area”. • The sleeping area can also be the play area. • Sometimes we may use a certain space for movement and another time, it may be for block play. Messy Area

12. Clearly Designated Areas • Food preparation and eating • Sleeping and Napping (cribs and mats) • Bodily care – diapering, dressing and using the toilet and hand washing. This is for health and safety reasons. It also ties into ITERS, licensing of the center and Head Start guidelines. It just makes good sense! Clean sink Dirty sink

13. Infants

14. Play Areas • Once you have a place for bodily care, sleeping, food prep and eating, the rest of the space is devoted to play. • There should be places for children to play together and places to be alone.

15. An open floor plan • “Keep the floor plan as open and uncluttered as possible….” • Try to keep the middle of the room for crawling, balancing and walking. • An open center allows children to see what is available. • Children can get where they want easily. • Children can see their teacher across the room for comfort. • Teachers can see children easily.

16. Infant Play Spaces • Physically separated from food preparation/eating, sleeping, diapering/ dressing areas. • Out of the path of major traffic. • Large enough for three or four infants to lie, move, roll, sit, creep, crawl, or play without crowding.

17. Safe space for non-mobile infants • A raised carpeted platform or covered mattress bounded by walls, low windows or cushions. • Another space may be a large quilt or blanket – it can be moved from day to day. • Use buffering (protective barriers) if there are also mobile infants in the area.

18. Safe space for mobile infants • Creepers and crawlers need more space than non-mobile infants. • Keep their space clear of swinging or opening doors or other major pathways. • Provide a variety of levels with covered mattresses and things to crawl into and behind.

19. Toddlers!

20. The Toddler Play Space • Toddlers look for the comfort and security of those they know, but are also ready for the challenge of bigger spaces and new materials. • They need a space of their own where they can pursue “toddler only” activities.

21. The Movement Area • Safe, accessible, open space. • First tentative walkers can move without bumping into other people and things. • Young toddlers can run, climb, push, pull, rock, carry and ride. Check guidelines from ITERS for fall zones and surfaces under a climber!

22. Climbing • Toddlers explore with large muscles as they construct knowledge about themselves and their world. • Movement time is all the time. • Without a sturdy climber, toddlers will use chairs, tables, and shelves to practice the climbing skill!

23. Storage of Movement Toys • Keep climbers and large pieces of movement equipment in the movement area, where they are used. • Store riding toys, pull and push toys, in a “parking area” next to the loft or along a wall. • Store musical instruments on a low shelf or in open containers or baskets.

24. Sand and Water Area • Locate sand and water on a tile floor, close to a sink for easy clean-up. • Fill sand and/or water with only 2-3 inches. • Add containers for fill and dump, things to hide and find, things to float. • Store materials nearby in baskets or containers. • Empty, clean and sterilize the water table every day. • In Florida, sand and water can be offered outside almost every day!

25. Toddler Book Area • Remember, toddlers carry books all over the room and that is normal. • A comfortable, cozy place. • Use a corner or along the wall so that major traffic patterns and active play will not interfere. • Use a shelf as a border and add a box on its side as a cozy spot to read inside. • It is a good place to add an aquarium.

26. Toddler Book Area Start with a small mattress. Cover it with sheets. • Try creating different levels in your classroom. • For instance, you can put a small mattress in a corner and cover it with sheets and a cozy washable quilt. • You can even add a canopy over the book area to create a hide-away. Add a colorful washable quilt. Top it off with a canopy or cover to make it cozy.

27. Toddler Art Area • Toddlers explore art materials, they do not use materials to make something. • They want to feel finger paint, hear paper rip and crunch, squeeze dough or clay and watch it smoosh through their fingers. • A shelf nearby can hold materials. A sensory Experience!

28. The Toddler Art Area • Should be on a tile floor, close to a sink for ease in clean-up. • Windows are nice, so colors and materials can be easily seen. • Since eating has the same requirements, the art area can be shared with the eating area.

29. Storing Toddler Art Supplies • Bulk art supplies (large packages) are stored in the teacher area. • Materials used by toddlers each day should be where they can reach them – crayons, markers, paper. • Smocks should be available to all children for messy play!

30. Toddler Block Area Easy to handle blocks help toddlers manipulate basic shapes. Toddlers begin to construct an understanding of spatial relationships.

31. Toddler Blocks • Locate blocks away from the book area. • In a place where there is enough space to spread-out block structures. • Toddlers are awkward and need lots of room. • Floor should be smooth and flat!

32. More about Toddler Blocks • Blocks can be large foam blocks, plastic or cardboard. • A set of wooden unit blocks allows older toddlers to experience handling denser, heavier blocks in a variety of shapes. • Add a set of animals, people and sturdy cars and trucks.

33. Toddler House Area • A place where toddlers can explore dolls, kitchen-related items, and dress-up clothes. • Toddlers imitate what they see their families do – talking on the phone, putting dishes on the table, turning the faucet on and off, putting on shoes or feeding the baby.

34. Toddler House Area • Locate the house area in a corner or along the perimeter of the central, open play space. • Consider placing it near the food prep and eating area, as children are imitating what they see.

35. Toddler House Area • Provide familiar house-hold materials like a sink, stove, refrigerator and toy phones. A toddler sized table and chairs can enhance play. • Add toy dishes, pots, pans, empty food containers, and small items that can be used as pretend “food”.

36. Toddler House Area • Make it “home-like”. • Add a doll bed, carriage and blankets. • Keep dress-ups simple. • Add bags with short handles for filling and emptying and transporting materials. • Add a mirror! • This is a good place to add a non-toxic plant for the classroom.

37. Toddler Toy Area • In the toy area, toddlers explore, manipulate, and play with small toys and collections. • They fit things together, take them apart, fill and empty, and pretend. • They use this area as a quiet place to play. • They also borrow things from this area to use in other parts of the play space.

38. Toddler Toy Area • Locate the toy area in a corner or along the perimeter of the room. • Since play is quiet, it can go near the book area. • Make sure there is space to spread out on the floor to play. Tables are nice, but not necessary.

39. Toddler Toy Area • Include household and natural items like lids, nesting cups, pinecones, shells, rocks….. • Materials also include toys, puzzles, graduated nesting cups, and other containers, magnetic blocks, interlocking blocks, pounding bench, on/off and open/close boxes, boxes with hinged lids, latches or locks, cubes, beads, or pegs.

40. Storage of Toddler Toys • Store toys and other playthings on low shelves in open, easy to access baskets and containers. • Label with sample object, picture or photograph to help with clean-up.

41. Mixed age classrooms Many of our classrooms are mixed age. Typically, our rooms have infants and one year olds in the same space. As children grow and develop during the “school year” or “season”, they stay in the same room. This results in different age combinations, including rooms with one year olds and two year olds. Occasionally, we may add an infant to one of these rooms, depending on the needs.

42. Mixed Age Classrooms • We need all the areas and all the materials for all age groups included in a room. • Storage is important. Store things that are for toddlers and not infants in clear containers with lids. • Some things can be kept on adult shelves up high, as long as they are available to toddlers when they want to play with them.

43. Keep everyone comfortable and safe!

44. For more information about general guidelines for setting up a classroom… • Please view the WestEd video or DVD, Space to Grow: Creating a Child Care Environment for Infants and Toddlers (second edition)