AN EXEMPLARY DESIGN OF A PRESCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

An environment that grows out of your relationship with the child is unique and fluid. -Loris
Malaguzzi
In designing this preschool environment, I set out to create an environment that challenges
children to respond deeply to the natural world and appreciate their cultural heritage. (Carr,
2001). I have therefore set out in this paper the principles that have stood out for me during
the course of the readings in this course as most important for an early childhood
environment and discussed how I would apply them in designing my environment
FLEXIBILITY:
One of the most important principles that will guide my choices of furniture, material and
accessories would be ‘flexibility’. During the course of the school day, children in an early
learning environment have a wide range of needs, some of which may be conficting. Some
children may want to talk quietly with a friend while others want to engage in boisterous full
body play. Some may want to engage in role play and drama while another wants to curl up
quietly with a picture book. It is therefore important that we design our environment such
that it is easily adaptable to the needs of the children at any point in time. (Knauff, 2019).
At the same time there is the need to provide transparency and structure. By transparency I
mean that children should find it easy to negotiate the environment. They should be able to
easily get from point A to point B. They should know how to find materials they need for
their purposes. Structure is also important because the way materials are arranged in an
environment give suggestions about how that space should be used. (Pairman & Terreni,
2001). Two or three chairs arranged around a small table in a corner already suggests a
place for collaboration. A comfortable throw pillow, a rug or sofa and a few books suggest a
place to curl up and read a book. It is important when arranging materials in an
environment that we consider how the space is most likely to be utilized. Quiet areas such
as reading nooks or nap areas should be grouped together, while areas for noisy boisterous
play can be grouped together. (Pairman & Terreni, 2001).
Fig 1.

As shown in Figure 1 above, I have tried to group activity centers in as practicable a way as I
can. Quiet activities like reading and painting are grouped in the same general area, away
from more social activites like role play or block construction.
The secret to ensuring flexibility and structure at the same time is in the use of open-ended
materials. Furniture pieces that can be used in a number of alternative ways, collections and
materials that lend themselves to a great variety of uses all help to ensure that the
environment responds to, and is constantly reflecting the children who currently inhabit it.
Thus, for instance, while it is important for order that the different activity areas should be
well delineated, (Pairman & Terreni, 2001), flexibility can be maintained in the use of low
shelving units made of light weight but sturdy materials with wheels for the demarcation.
Children can easily move these around to fit their purposes.
At all times during the design of an early childhood environment, it is important to view
things from the perspective of the child. All aspects of the physical environment should be
carefully evaluated as to their educational potential. (Tarr,2001) The environment should be
designed with the comfort, interests and priorities of the children in view. For instance, right
now in the school where I teach, the sinks and wash hand basins are at a height suitable for
adults, but not for young children. This simple design error means that the children are not
as independent as they should be. They need to ask for adult help to wash their hands.
Placing utilities at a height appropriate for children increases their sense of independence,
which in turn increases their self-esteem. Thus, in my early childhood environment, all
facilities, seats, tables, utensils and even the stairs to the second floor would be child-sized.
This communicates to the children that they are valued and important members of the
community.
In order to get the viewpoint of the children, I will observe them carefully to see how they
make use of the space and base my choices on what they do. It is also possible to seek their
ideas about the environment by asking them what they enjoy doing the most indoors and
outdoors. (Clark, 2005)
A PLACE FOR RELATIONSHIPS
A second key principle I intend to focus on while designing this learning environment is
relationships. Socio cultural theories of learning have shown us that children learn best
when all aspects of their world are integrated. (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Thus, the early
learning environment should support the children’s relationships within and outside the
center. This includes fostering a warm relationship with the parents and other family
members. Right now in my preschool, we have no provision for visitors and parents to be
part of the school. Parents drop their kids off in the playground and pick them off from the
playground. We do not encourage parents to come into the school building because there is
the fear that they may disrupt the routine. As I have progressed with this course, however, I
have come to see that parents and other family members are important partners to the
early childhood educator. Thus my preschool design would have a warm and inviting lobby
with comfortable seating where parents who choose to do so may linger. There will be a
bookshelf with appropriate books for parents to share with their children if they wish, either
before dropping them off or while picking them up. Documentation will also be displayed on
a notice board to keep them up to date with the children’s learning journey.
Since all learning is social and children’s learning best takes place while interacting with
others, I want to design this learning environment in a manner that ‘allows for maximum
movement, interdependence, and interaction’. (Malaguzzi, 1994:56). The spaces will be set
up to facilitate interactions between all members of the learning community – between
children, between the children and the teachers, and between the adults (teachers as well
as parents). (Bartlett & Gandini, 1993). Thus, the school will be laid out in two sections. The
first (ground floor) will be a communal open-plan activity room where all the children can
freely interact with each other. This way there will be opportunities for the children to
benefit from peer to peer mentoring and scaffolding. This is where the different activity
centers will be. The second floor will contain two individual classes for age specific group
activities – especially the pre-literacy and pre-numeracy work that currently forms part of
our curriculum and a coffee/meeting room for adults.
Our props and materials for free play will strongly reflect our local environment and culture.
This will create cohesion in the mind of the child and integrate his home and school worlds.
We will have miniatures of equipment and simple tools actually used in our local
environment available in our imaginative play center. These will be laid out in attractive
baskets which will be made of natural materials too. We have beautiful, locally fabricated
raffia baskets and mats which will be incorporated into the role play area. For role play and
drama, we will have a fine mix of western clothing which the children wear everyday,
alongside appropriately sized versions of the traditional, ceremonial wear of the different
tribes which are represented in my class, as shown in Figure 2. All our storage and display
containers will be locally made baskets and calabashes.
Fig 2: A selection of traditional attire and accessories from the Fulani, Tiv, Ishan and Yoruba tribes which will be
available in the role play section. Traditional cooking utensils.

It is important that the learning environment reinforces children’s unique sense of their own
identities, autonomy and security. (Rinaldi, 2005). Thus, children will have spaces and items
that are uniquely theirs. Every child in the school will have a cubicle where she can store any
personal belongings or special items brought from home. The cubicle can be identified by a
special sticker or picture handpicked by the child to. There will also be displays of the
children’s work on the walls. These will be arranged in ways that show our value and respect
for their ideas and products. (Tarr, 2001). Each center will have a display area where we can
display the works the children have produced while working in that area, for instance
pictures of the children all dressed up in the role play area, or pictures of the children’s
construction at the construction/block play area. Seeing the care we put into displaying
their work demonstrates to the children that what they are doing is worthwhile and
valuable. It can also motivate them to go back to the project and build on the project at a
later time or investigate the subject matter further.
At the beginning of the school year we will create an ‘all about me’ book about each child
and their family. (Friedman, 2005) These books will celebrate each child’s uniqueness. It will
include any information and pictures the child wants to share about himself, his preferences
and his family. They will be displayed in the classes and will be available for the children to
read or share with each other.
INVITE INVESTIGATION
We have come to understand children as active constructors of their knowledge rather than
passive recipients of information. This means that our early childhood environment should
be carefully designed with a view to providing stimulation and a wide range of learning
experiences. (Knauff, 2019). The classroom should offer children an abundance of choices
and provide opportunities for them to engage in a variety of activities and investigations.
(Fraser, 2012) It is important, however to sound a note of warning here. There is a need to
maintain a fine balance between under and over stimulation. Children are very responsive
to their environment, and can take in a lot more stimuli than adults do. It is therefore very
easy for them to become over-stimulated. Prior to taking this course, I believed children’s
spaces should be brightly decorated in primary colours with lots of posters. I have come to
see that this choice of décor is likely to over stimulate the children and cause them to
become disruptive. At the same time environments that are too pristine become barren and
can stifle children’s creativity. (Pairman & Terreni). We will therefore strive to achieve a
happy medium. The walls will be painted in warm, neutral tones of beige and cream, with
one or two primary colours sparingly used only to provide highlighting. The aim is to create
an uncluttered, warm and homelike environment. I have come to learn that when children
are surrounded by beauty and aesthetically pleasing arrangements, they sense the love,
care and attention given to preparing their spaces, and they feel valued and respected. They
in turn will treat the environment and others with respect. (Howard, 2006). Toys, learning
resources and play materials will be displayed in a well-organized manner with appropriate
shelving. Studies (Shohet & Klein, 2008) have shown that random placement of toys led to
an increase in toddler’s aggressive behavior, while they responded with more positive social
behavior when the toys were displayed in an interest-arousing manner. Thus, a well
organized environment creates better opportunities for young children to learn and explore
their physical and social world.

Learning environments should promote wonder, curiosity, investigation and invention.

(Wurm, 2005) To stoke up the fires of their imagination, children need an abundance of
materials for their role play, creative arts and design. They need to be exposed to a wide
variety of multi-sensory experiences and materials which will enhance their perceptual
awareness. Once again, open-ended materials are key. There is literally no limit to what
uses children can make of open-ended materials. For instance, in her work on redesigning
children’s spaces, Clark (2010) tells about how children transform mundane things in their
imagination. A dark purple tablecloth and white glue stick becomes ‘the water and the boat’
(Clark, 2010:58) A grove of trees becomes a cave for a 3 year old where he can listen to
magic music from his magic radio. (2004:150). Found objects – empty bottles and jars, bottle
covers, buttons,- wooden utensils, objects from nature like leaves, pinecones and pebbles,
and other loose odds and ends can all be made into collections for the children to explore.
Shiny materials that reflect light in a way that intrigue, mirrors, glass, fabric that glimmer,
shimmer or glow can all be laid out attractively in a way that invite the children to engage
with them.
With such an abundance of materials, it is necessary to pay attention to proper storage. It is
very easy for an early learning environment to become disorganized and cluttered with all
the knicks and knacks we collect. Materials have to be stored in such a way that they are
well organized, otherwise they just become a pile of junk. Thus, each learning center will
have appropriate open shelving to display all the materials and supplies used for the
activities in that center. It is important for these materials to be easily accessible to the
children, so they will be stored at an appropriate height. At the same time, they will be
presented in an attractive manner that invites the children to interact with them. In order to
avoid clutter, materials not currently being used will be stored in over-head drawers
RELATE WITH NATURE
Another important relationship that I would love to cultivate in my early learning
environment is the children’s relationship with nature. It is important that children learn
that we are interconnected with the other living things on our planet. (British Columbia
Early Framework 2019). Incorporating nature into the classroom helps create a sense of
wellbeing. (Curtis & Carter, 2015). It heightens children’s awareness of the natural, physical
and social environments in which they live. This awareness helps to strengthen the
children’s sense of belonging in their world. (Fraser, 2012). The preschool environment
should therefore provide opportunities to develop a sense of responsibility by caring for
animals and plants. (Fraser, 2012) Children are naturally drawn to living things and are eager
to have relationships with them. Having plants and animals in the classroom gives children
the opportunity to feel useful and find joy in sharing the world with other living things.
(Curtis & Carter, 2015). In my design preschool, we will have an aquarium in the lobby.
Children can take turns feeding the fish. The lobby will also have a variety of indoor plants
which children who wish to can water and care for.
The outdoors and the indoors will be integrated to create one learning experience. Items
from nature such as shells, wood, rocks, dried leaves and vines will form a prominent part of
the props and collections children interact with. As seen in Figure 3 below, the outdoors will
be easily accessible to the children, with two doors leading out into the garden from the
indoor active play area and the construction/block center. A third door will lead out into the
sand and water play outdoor centers. The indoor art center is placed beside a garden
window which contains a variety of indoor plants, herbs and flowers.

Fig 3: First floor – communal activity space layout

ACTIVE SPACE:
Children are very active beings and sometimes just need spaces for climbing, jumping and
swinging. The majority of our active space will be outdoors, but we will have a part of our
communal activity room available for large body movements just in case the outdoors is
inclement. We will have a few lightweight boxes for climbing and throwing. I like the idea of
an elevated platform reached by one or two steps and a ramp (Curtis & Carter, 2015:95). It
can be put to many uses. It can be used as a stage if the children choose to put up
‘performances’, or it can be a place to relax away from the other children or to sit to be with
friends.
The outdoor space will contain ample opportunities to be active. Apart from the standard
playground equipment, there will be provision for children to interact and play with nature.
At the extreme bottom of the garden are fruit trees like mangoes and oranges which lend
themselves to climbing because they have low hanging branches. There is also a vegetable
patch which the children will be encouraged to join in caring for. They will also be able to
take part in the preparation (and eating!) of the fruits and vegetables picked from the
garden.
I have also decided to create opportunities for children to experiment with noise and sound
in the outdoor space. Too often, children cannot make all the noise they want to make
because they are indoors. I liked a novel idea in Curtis & Carter’s work (2015:166) in which a
variety of hollow metal objects (mostly cooking utensils) are hung up against the fence
outdoors. I know from experience how much noise children can make with pots and pans
and I feel it will be an interesting addition to my outdoor space. In addition, on the floor
beneath this, I will have an assortment of traditional music implements which are easily
manipulated by the children, displayed on a raffia mat. (Fig 4)

Fig 4: Nigerian traditional music instruments – Clockwise from the top: the shekere, (Yoruba tribe), the ogene
(Igbo tribe), the ukot (Efik tribe)

One more thing I want to include in this environment is provisions for children to have a
little privacy. I found it telling that while working with children redecorating their learning
spaces, the researcher (Clark, 2010 ) reported that a great number of children identified
one of their favourite places as a place where they could go and be alone. Just like adults do,
children sometimes need some time to themselves. I was inspired by pictures in Curtis &
Carter’s (2015) work showing inventive ways early childhood settings have devised to create
cozy places of retreat for the children. Thus, I will adapt one of those ideas and create a cozy
nook underneath the staircase screened off by see-through material where a child or two
can retreat for some peace and quiet
In the outdoor area, there will also be provisions for seating and taking a break from all the
activities. There will be a hammock underneath shade trees close to the water and sand play
area, where a tired child can take a break and observe the activities or curl up with an adult
caregiver for a cuddle or to read a book.
Finally I will make provisions for a coffee room/staff room upstairs for educators to meet,
collaborate or just take a break. It is important for the adults to have opportunities to reflect
individually and as a team on their experiences with the children in their care. The second
floor will consist of two classrooms, one for the 3-4 year olds, and the other for 4-5s. There
will also be a small multi media room for the occasional video viewing.

Fig 5: 2nd floor: classrooms, teacher’s coffee room and media room
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