3. spaces
room layout
for early childhood education
“O ur designs shape children’s beliefs about themselves
and life. In a well designed area, children are engaged and
feel secure. A well designed area can facilitate predictable,
consistent and intimate care for each child.”
Anita Olds
Contents: The Importance of Space .............................. 2
What Makes a Good Space? ........................ 2
Activity Areas ............................................... 3
Location ........................................................ 4
Predictability
Room Regions and Zones
Boundaries ................................................... 5
Paths
Movement
Freedom to Explore
Privacy
Play and Sitting Surfaces ............................. 7
Variety
Storage ........................................................ 8
Flexibility
Mood ............................................................ 9
Empty Space
Inviting
Memorable
Equipment and Materials ........................... 11
Amount-to-do
Stimulation
Supportive Environment
A Quick Guide to Space Planning .............. 13
4. When children feel
comfortable in their
physical surroundings,
they will venture to
explore materials or
events around them.
The Importance of Space
Anita Olds
“Do you still have that loft?” college students stop to ask
Madeline Mulligan on the street.
What Makes
Madeline’s home-made loft occupies a corner in her child care a Good Space?
center. A science area is tucked underneath, and from upstairs • Predictability
you can see out the classroom window. Twenty years later, • Clear paths to activities
young adults still remember climbing the wide ladder to catch
• Well-defined boundaries
a few moments of peace, to watch the robin build her nest
outside, and to gain a fresh perspective on the room’s activities • Enough opportunity
for movement
below.
• Freedom for exploration
Through the centuries, those who care for children have un- • Privacy
derstood the significance of a child’s surroundings. Already
• Variety
in the 1800’s, the childcare expert Froebel stressed the im-
portance of environmental design in the sense of a garden, • Enough complexity
(versatile open-ended units)
natural, organic, ever-changing. He maintained that when
care is applied to children’s surroundings, behavior can be • Flexibility
guided and inspired. The simplest of locations can become a • Varied levels of stimulation
haven of play and learning. • A supportive environment
Too often, childcare takes place in society’s cast-off spaces, • The right amount
of empty space
church basements, converted warehouses. Even centers
“purpose-built” for childcare are often designed with more • Inviting, welcoming,
of an eye to adult priorities than children’s needs. Ideally, home-like feel
architect and childcare professionals work together as peers • Memorability
to create the best possible environment for young children.
Whether laying out rooms you helped design, or making do
with the space you’ve been given, your decisions about room
layout are crucial.
Are the children in your care deeply engrossed in their activi-
ties, or are many at loose ends? The difference may well stem
from room layout, good or bad. This booklet is meant to help
you understand the difference.
Spend time with these pages and study some of the works
referenced here. We hope it helps you create spaces your
children will remember, even decades later, with love.
Your friends at Community Playthings
2
5. Activity Areas
The most neglected and Motivated children will learn • Location: Where is it in relation
misunderstood dimension of through discovery, and this self- to other physical features and
teaching process is key to a child’s other activity areas?
the planned curriculum is the development. The best childcare • Boundaries: How well is the
creation of an environment or practitioners know that learning area defined?
is a matter of discovery. Reason-
setting in which education is • Play and Sitting Surfaces: are
ing with a kindergarten child
to take place. they appropriate to the activities
about fulcrums and centers of
they support?
gravity may be fruitless, but a
Blenkin & Whitehead • Storage: The materials children
three-year-old who builds a lop-
sided tower soon discovers how to need in each activity area should
“Open structure” rooms let be stored conveniently at hand,
balance the blocks and distribute
children choose from a variety of and displayed attractively for
weight evenly!
activity stations. There may be an effective use.
area for reading, a block area, an Many factors contribute to a truly • Mood: Is the mood of the area
area for projects, an area for active great room layout, to a design that appropriate to the function? Is it
play. This room design uses the guides and encourages children home-like?
natural interests and impulses of to learn through play. Childcare
children to their best advantage— professional Anita Olds lists five
children learn to make smooth attributes to consider for each
transitions by themselves and activity station you plan. The
in their own time, much as they next sections of this booklet will
would do if they were playing in discuss these points in detail, for
their own home. It helps them they are the central units from
develop their own routines and which a room grows.
disciplines, and supports happy,
motivated play.
The child’s play with sand or mud is
the earliest stage of experience in
shaping matter. Children who are
gifted in this way will soon do work
of real merit. The transition from play
to work is hardly noticeable.
Eberhard Arnold
3
6. Location
We are all familiar with a real Room Regions games or just places to be cozy.
estate agent’s jingle: “location, and Zones Many of these activities happen
location, location.” When consid- The most successful childcare on the floor. These activities do
ering your room layout and the rooms are divided into two best in a protected or somewhat
location of each activity area, regions, wet and dry. This just secluded corner.
there are a few concepts to keep means that the entry area and In addition…
in mind: messy zones like sand and water
5. The Outdoor Zone. The play-
centers are planned into the
ground is the most important
Predictability layout in a practical fashion.
zone. With rapid urbanization
Institutional settings are Consider these “zones,” suggested
and shrinking wilderness, a child’s
by Anita Olds as a sensible way to
inherently unpredictable: one last opportunity to enjoy nature
organize a classroom.
is never sure what will happen may lie in the outdoor play space
Wet Region of a day care center. We recom-
next, who will arrive, and for
1. The Entry Zone is where chil- mend a natural environment that
what purpose. Unpredictability will encourage rich educational
dren’s personal effects are stored.
increases children’s lack of opportunities such as:
There should be a place where
ease and control. children can sit to dress/undress. • Climbing trees
Anita Olds
Sometimes a door in the entry • Rolling down hills
zone opens onto the playground. • Mud pies
Children love to explore and 2. The Messy Zone can contain • Building forts
discover, but they also rely on tables, chairs, easels, woodworking
benches, sand and water centers, • Hide and seek
a certain level of predictability;
they like to be in control of their nature study, and a kitchen area. It • Playing in bushes
environment. They like to know needs to have access to sinks, and • Exploring woods
what’s going on and what will ideally, access to the outside play • Gardening
happen next. Entries and exits area. This is also the most natural
zone to gather the entire group for • Sand box play
need to be clearly defined, and
pathways direct. Activity areas mealtimes, etc. Floor surface is an Don’t forget to offer challeng-
need to be inviting islands, with important consideration here. ing and vigorous activities
room to detour around them. with trikes, bikes, scooters and
Dry Region
Even the layout of the building wheeled vehicles. Hollow blocks
itself matters. Children find clus- 3. The Active Zone (Dry region) (indoors and out) provide the
ters of rooms more predictable supports large motor play, ideal combination of large muscle
than long corridors. wheeled vehicles, music and and cognitive development. A
movement, climbing and swing is a good place for a child
• Doorways should be obvious dramatic play. to gain respite from the demands
• Traffic flow should be intuitive 4. The Quiet Zone (Dry region) of group care. If you don’t have
• Rooms or areas should be contains blocks, manipulatives, an outdoor space, you can always
arranged in a cluster rather than construction toys, puzzles, books, bring nature in.
along a corridor
4
7. Boundaries
Boundaries protect children’s dren. Many concepts interplay to Jim Greenman (1988) observes
activities from traffic, lunch and create this sense of defined area: that different paths encourage
other distractions encouraging • Paths different types of behaviour. “A
longer-lasting, sustained play. meandering pathway with forks
• Movement
Even in a small room, you can and T’s encourages shopping for an
create well-defined activity areas • Freedom to Explore appropriate activity and perhaps
and children will exhibit a higher • Privacy observing the activities of others.
degree of exploratory behavior A straight pathway with one begin-
and social interaction. Efficient Paths ning and one ending emphasizes
boundaries double as display and reaching the destination. Unbroken
A total absence of path, paths encourage, perhaps even insist
shelving space. These boundaries
need not be permanent and must because of too much equip- upon, running.”
not interfere with supervision. ment placed too close
Often a carpet or similar visual together, is very disruptive. Movement
boundary defines space. But
Kritchevsky and Prescott …movement is considered
physical dividers can be used as
well, solid or clear, high or low. to be the bedrock of all
They can be made of fabric, When paths are well defined, intellectual development…
wicker or lattice, or of shelving. children move quickly and easily often it is merely limited
Some caregivers even create a from one activity to another.
opportunities for movement
small corral or “sunken theater” Ideally, paths detour around activ-
to prevent toys from getting ity spaces. They go to a destina- that create many so-called
scattered. tion that is clearly visible from a behavioral and learning
child’s point of view. Most of all, difficulties.
Often, children want to save their they don’t lead into dead space.
projects so they can continue them Anita Olds
Dead space often occurs when
the next day. Edgington (1998) re- activity areas are placed around
ports that if children are allowed Children need scope for movement.
the wall, leaving open floor in the Caregivers can direct movement
to follow an interest over a period center of a room. Instead of mov-
of time, motivation and concen- so that it is safe and doesn’t disrupt
ing through dead space, children other activities. Climb-and-slide
tration improve. Clear boundaries tend to get stuck and distracted
protect the work and play of chil- equipment, like a nursery gym, can
in counterproductive activities. provide this movement. These units
Teachers can avoid dead space are designed to suggest appropriate
by placing a low activity area in activity to a child.
the center of the room, causing
a natural path to form around it Annemarie Arnold (1940) recom-
and into other activities. mends that childcare professionals
“let children follow their own inter-
ests. If the whole interest of the child
is captured, he will be creative.”
5
8. Freedom to Explore Jim Greenman (1988) points out Variety and complexity can enter-
a drawback to defining areas by tain children for a long time, but
If you want to do something
content: “It is easy to lose sight of it is important that opportunities
good for a child… give him the reality that the content exists and places are created where chil-
an environment where he everywhere in many activities. dren can simply be. It is wonderful
Instead of a grand conception of to have a few simple units where a
can touch things as much art as both an approach to the child can play alone.
as he wants. world and a manifestation of life’s
Children instinctively recognize the
grandeur, art becomes a narrowly
Buckminster Fuller most protected, secure space in a
defined set of activities in a set
room. It is often the corner directly
location. Science is viewed not as a
Richness of experience, not opposite the entry. This is probably
process of investigation …but as a
the ideal place for a quiet zone, a
tidy perfection, is the point selection of materials and experi-
place where children can go for a
ments.” The most inspiring rooms
of the whole thing. bit of privacy.
are organized from a perspective
that encourages children to move, Cubbies and comfortable corners
Katherine Whitehorn
explore and experiment, not a are a child’s favorite. They find
Children need to explore using housekeeping perspective that it reassuring to put their backs
all their senses. It is important encourages children to sit still, be against something solid. Even
to allow children to move freely quiet and not disturb the order of adults feel this way. This is why
between activity centers to explore the center. many people find a hospital wait-
and experiment, mix and match. ing room unnerving—it is often
Children need the freedom to:
Hutt et al (1989) observed a center a large, open space crisscrossed
• Explore using all their senses with chairs. Activity happens
where staff would not allow the
activity areas to “cross-pollinate,” • Move between activity areas behind and around the chairs,
unwittingly preventing the chil- • Mix or connect different making security and quiet waiting
dren from making connections in activities an impossibility. Provide lots of
the life-learning process. Dramatic softness in the room, promoting a
play costumes want to find their Privacy sense of security.
way into the kitchen corner. It’s a
natural result of role-play. Allow In an ideal setting the children
children to take the art materials have access to rooms where
to the block area to make traffic
they can withdraw from the
signs for the city, or use the toy
animals on the farm. main group if they wish, to
play without interruption, to
relax and daydream.
Mark Dudek
6
9. Play and Sitting Surfaces
Anita Olds asks if playing and or in groups of two or three. So Encourage variety:
sitting surfaces are appropriate to it makes sense to have different • Small motor activities and large
the activities they support. Con- props to support the different muscle play
sider each area: what do children activities that books suggest.
• Solitary play and cooperative
do in this area? What props do
Paper and crayons in the book group play
they need to support this activity?
corner encourage children • Open-ended play and
to copy pictures or letters. prescribed activities
Variety To encourage make-believe,
• Sensory stimulation and islands
Children’s play areas can offer you might have costumes, to
of quiet
a variety of occupations, and encourage singing, some musical
a variety of places in which to instruments. Have a listen-
do them. A bookshelf, for ex- ing center to hear books on
ample, offers picture books and tape. If you want to encourage
reading books, fiction and fact, collaboration, perhaps you
songbooks and reference books. will have a couch instead of
Some children will read the text. individual chairs.
Others will look at the pictures
This variety can reach all areas,
or make believe they are reading,
indoors and outdoors. A wide
or perhaps sing from them. Still
variety of activities stretches
others will copy text or pictures.
children’s imaginations and keeps
They may do these things alone
them interested.
10. Storage
Which teacher hasn’t thought Some centers support literacy by ins, and rather consider moveable
about storage? There never seems displaying books that relate to what storage shelves. This allows ma-
to be enough. As one of the five is going on in the various activ- nipulation of the environment by
most important attributes of ity areas, right in each area, rather teachers and children.
activity areas, storage needs to than just in the book corner.
With moveable furniture and equip-
be considered early in the room
Well-designed storage shelves ment, flexibility in room layout be-
layout process, or both teachers
accommodate vertical display on comes a powerful tool. Eight reasons
and children will be frustrated in
their backs. This supports the for this are:
their use of the room.
logical practice of using shelv- • Changes in enrollment
Jim Greenman’s (1988) list of ing to define the boundaries of
• New staff with different
characteristics of good storage is activity areas, and saves precious
preferences
helpful. Good storage is: wall space.
• Different groups with
• Located close to the point of use Don’t neglect the need for personal different needs
• Able to comfortably hold and storage. Children get their cubbies,
• Seasonal changes
distinctively display contents but teachers, too, need space they
when open. can call their own. • Changes in children’s interests,
educational objectives, etc.
• The right size and shape for The variety of materials employed
the space. • Adapting the environment to
in a particular activity area needs meet behavioral needs
• Aesthetically pleasing. careful consideration. Books,
manipulatives, sand and water, • Letting children change their
• Clear and understandable to
blocks, large muscle play—each has environment to suit their play
its user, whether 20 months or
20 years old. its particular characteristics which • Creating ADA-compliant spaces
must be reflected in the storage by being able to move shelving
• Safe
methods employed there. and equipment to accommodate
The mention of display above adaptive equipment
deserves special attention. The Flexibility With portable screens and dividers,
tops of shelving can hold children’s
The ideal room is an empty shell you can create versatile, changeable
sculptures, found objects, or nature
filled with moveable furniture. interest areas that hold children’s
exhibits, if they are deep enough
Built-in features severely restrict attention. For example, expand
and at the right height. This prac-
flexible room arrangements and an area for a group gathering or
tice conveys without words that this
the opportunity for future changes instantly create a small cozy space
is the children’s space, and it dem-
and improvements. Avoid built- for individual work. Supply children
onstrates the respect the teacher
with large hollow blocks, boxes, and
holds for their work.
pillows so they can create spaces to
suit their play.
8
11. Mood
Is the mood of the area the reading area should be quiet The first impression children and
appropriate to the function? and soft; the art area, colorful and parents gain from a center is its
creative; and the dramatic play entry and reception area. Prasad
Is it home-like?
area, imaginative and fun. Children (2000) comments that “…clear
Anita Olds
take cues from the environment to but non-intimidating siting of an
regulate their behavior. office or reception desk can help
Empty Space
people be at ease and feel that they
Research and experience prove
Larger numbers of children… belong.” Design plays a big part in
that many hours spent in an in-
need a larger proportion of
this sense of welcome. In general,
stitutional setting are stressful for
curves are perceived as warm and
empty space. The findings of children and can have a negative
feminine, while straight lines are
effect on their development. It is
our day care study suggest hard and masculine. Obtuse angles
therefore important to provide
that the range of no less than are inviting and acute angles are re-
homelike surroundings so that
jecting. To be really welcoming, the
one-third to no more than children can be relaxed, comfort-
reception area should be concave
one-half uncovered surface able and free to learn. Attention
in shape. The whole area should
to detail such as plants, area rugs,
is appropriate to good be intimately scaled and child-
wall hangings etc., creates a beau-
organization.
oriented. A fish tank can work
tiful and caring atmosphere. Keep-
wonders. So can natural light.
ing children and staff relaxed and
Kritchevsky and Prescott
happy is a key factor for reducing Spaces for children need to be
stress. A well-organized, homelike inviting for all. Chizea et al say,
The amount of space in a room environment encourages good “All children—and all adults—
and how it is organized affects behavior and positive interaction. should be able to find positive
children’s behavior. A tight space images of the group of people
may encourage working together
but can also lead to aggression
Inviting with whom they feel themselves
to be identified. This includes
and frustration. Reducing clutter Play has long been recog- issues of culture, ethnicity, age
and installing flexible furnish-
nized as the key way in and gender, and also people’s
ings can maximize the use of abilities/disabilities.”
each area. On the other hand, too which children come to
much space in a room can cause make their own sense of Some parents will want to drop
children to be restless and unfo- their often confusing world. off their children and go. Well-
cused and have low interaction designed space will encourage
Play provides a rich method them to stay and interact, a bridge
with their peers. Using dividers
to create activity areas or pockets for children to express between home and the big imper-
reduces distraction and can help what they know and, most sonal world. It says: we understand
teachers facilitate absorbed play. children; you can be a child here.
significantly, how they feel
Rooms should have a balance of about the world and their
well-defined spaces for a variety of
relationships.
activities, suggesting a mood that
reflects the task in each of these Marjorie Ouvry
mini-environments. For example,
9
12. To make an area welcoming it Jim Greenman (1988) notes, It is a beautiful thing to see
should include: “Objects lay claim to our feelings a child thoroughly absorbed
• Opportunities for play because of associations and qual-
ities of the objects. Wood, leather, in his play… Play brings joy,
• Creative use of light, both
and some natural stone and brick contentment, and detach-
natural and artificial
objects beckon to be touched. Ob-
• Curves as opposed to straight ment from the troubles of
jects made of these materials tend
lines to wear with grace. The smooth- the day. And especially now-
• Obtuse angles rather than ings and cracks and weathering adays, in our hectic, time- and
acute ones and nicks often add character.”
money-driven culture, the
• Concave rather than convex Memorable centers are places of
shape importance of those things
wonder and enchantment. They
• Opportunities to explore do not feel completely civilized for every child cannot be
• Counters and interest areas at and repressed. Much loved places emphasized enough.
a child’s height are frequently found outdoors.
They may include trees with long Johann Christoph Arnold
• Opportunities to work on
bent branches, the smell of ripe
the floor
tomatoes, the sound of water,
the feel of dew-wet grass, and
Memorable
the taste of a radish. The chal-
A spirited place satisfies lenge for childcare practitioners
is to create such child-friendly
children’s souls. It possesses
areas within our own indoor and
a wholeness that makes the outdoor environments, to foster
heart sing, the soul rejoice, places of freedom and delight
where the enchantments and
the body feel safe and at
mysteries of childhood can be
rest. It is the spirit of a place given full expression.
that makes it memorable,
that expands our sense of
possibility and puts us in
touch with what is most
loving, creative, and human
about ourselves.
Anita Olds
10
13. Complexity
Children need equipment with
enough complexity to hold their
interest for an extended time.
Kritchevsky (1977) suggests that
equipment can be categorized into
four types:
Equipment and Materials
A Potential Unit is a clearly defined
So far this book has considered Play places are linked to the com- space with no play materials, for ex-
the layout of individual activity plexity of each unit. (See sidebar ample, an empty table. It is important
areas in a room. What about the and chart.) to identify these areas and predict the
actual equipment and materials kind of activities that may develop.
for your room? If you bear these Stimulation (0 play places.)
points in mind, it should help you
Nature provides the perfect exam- A Simple Play Unit has only one
through the often bewildering
ple of an environment that gently obvious use, and no sub-parts or
choices that must be made.
stimulates all the senses in a variety additional materials. Consider a
of different ways. Large areas like tricycle or a swing. Usually only one
Amount-to-do the earth, the sky, and the grass are child can play with a simple play
Are there enough units in your green, blue or various shades of unit, and sometimes that is just what
room to keep children occupied brown. The smaller points of color is needed. (1 play place.)
happily? The right balance helps are mainly primary colors. Blue,
A Complex Play Unit has sub-
to avoid conflicts over one unit, green, and brown are calm colors,
parts or several materials that allow
and lets children move quickly while red and yellow are exciting.
you to improvise. A nursery gym
from one play place to the next. Nature deeply satisfies our other
is considered a complex play unit.
Conversely, if there is only one four senses too. It is a source of in-
Children may also discover that by
play place per child, a child who spiration informing our children of
combining two simpler units they can
finishes his activity will have the environment around them.
create a more exciting system. When
very little choice over what he
Light and reflection help bring road signs are added to the tricycle
does next.
this level of interest indoors, as the area, it becomes a city street.
The amount-to-do formula can movement sparked by the Ital-
Unit blocks are inherently open-end-
help avoid conflicts (Kritchevsky ian district of Reggio Emelia has
ed. When cars, trucks, farm animals,
1977). Compare layout to a game demonstrated so delightfully. Look
and toy figures are added to a block
of musical chairs. When “the mu- for opportunities for interplay
set, the level of interest is raised, but
sic stops” there should be plenty between light and shadow, like a
the way in which the blocks are used
of play places to choose from, rattan screen hanging in a window
becomes more specific. (4 play places.)
well over 1.5 per child. Divide and blowing in the breeze. Mirrors
the number of play places by the stimulate beautiful play. A Super Play Unit has three or more
number of children expected to play materials, for example: a home
play there to help you establish corner with dolls, dishes and dramatic
successful layouts. play costumes. (8 play places.)
Example Number of Number of Different Number of Play
Obvious Uses Sub-parts or Materials Places per Unit
Potential Unit Empty Table 0 0 0
Simple Play Unit Tricycle 1 0 1
Complex Play Unit Sand & Water Table Multiple 1 or 2 4
Super Play Unit Home Corner with Multiple 3 or more 8
dolls, dishes, and costumes
14. About contrasts…
Anita Olds (2000) suggests that
variety in the following six
contrasts simulate the choices
nature would give a child.
• In/Out: the contrast between When moving from one contrast Supportive Environment
indoors and outdoors (accented to another, the change needs to A supportive environment helps
by windows, porches, fences, be gradual and predictable so as children fulfill their own needs.
transition areas) not to intimidate. A transition Children love to hang up their
• Up/Down: varying heights of area helps alert the children that coats, turn on the light, turn
floor and ceiling (steps, ramps, they are entering a new area with on taps, and open doors and
lofts) different limits and possibilities. cupboards. They can do this
• Light/Dark: bright areas and This link may involve a doormat, when materials are at the point
dimmer corners (lattices, a doorstep, or there may be a of use and accessible. Areas in a
screens, curtains, awnings, shad- porch or entryway with lockers. room can be designed to convey
ows) their possibilities and limits.
Consider:
• Exposed/Tempered: wet and This helps children understand
• Equipment what activity is appropriate in
dry, hot and cold, windblown
and still (porch, garden wall, • Floor surface: carpet, tile, wood that area. They can move from
shrubs, shade) • Outside surface: pavement, place to place without a lot of
grass, bare earth, etc. guidance. Choice of activity is
• Something/Nothing: the con-
• Walls, fences, windows, dividers, empowering.
trast between a wall and a win-
dow, empty or cluttered space screens, shelving Studies show that the
(window seat, arches, alcoves, • Ceiling, roofs, trees, canopies arrangement of materials and
corners) hung from ceilings equipment has an effect on
• Order/Mystery: the contrast how they are used. Nash (1981)
between order and chaos, observed that materials and
predictability and surprise equipment stored close to each
(partially concealed entrances, other were often used together.
winding paths, possibilities for Teets (1985) found that when
discovery) materials were displayed system-
atically, children could see how
the materials were categorized
and made much better use of
them. The arrangement of equip-
ment supported learning and
self-reliance without continuous
teacher intervention.
12
15. A Quick Guide to Space Planning
The fixed features of a building can constrain its partitions and shelving. Consider, too, features like
interior design. Where possible, the fixed features electrical outlets, plumbing, floor surfacing, and
should be kept to a minimum to allow for greater lighting, including all-important natural light from
flexibility. For example, try to keep to the min- windows. Once the room is created, here is a step-
imum of two doors per room and avoid built-in by-step guide on how to lay it out.
Corri dor
1. Make an overall
Carp et Li ne room plan.
To ilets
• Draw the basic shape of the
room, to scale, on graph
paper.
• Mark in all the fixed
features: windows, doors,
sinks, floor surfacing.
Play
Yar d
Corri dor
2. Mark in the flow.
Carp et Li ne
• Paths must have direct access
to all areas and doors.
To ilets
• Main flow goes from the
entry door to all other doors,
exits, bathrooms, and storage
closets, with one path going
into the center of the room.
3. Locate and circle the
Protected Corners.
• This will help you reserve
prime space for quiet activi-
ties such as reading.
• Farthest from the entry door.
Play
Yar d • No doors or flow-paths going
through.
13
16. Corri dor
4. Divide into Wet and Dry
Carp et Li ne Regions.
To ilets • Wet Region: Apply the “3F” rule
zon e
entry
to determine the wet region: flow,
active zone flooring, and fixed plumbing (sinks
and toilets).
Wet Region • Dry Region: Should contain at
least one protected corner and can
be carpeted.
Dry Region
messy zone
5. Divide into Zones.
Wet Region:
zo ne
quiet • Entry Zone
Play
Yar d • Messy Zone
Dry Region:
• Active Zone
• Quiet Zone
Don’t forget the Outdoor Zone
6. Decide what activity areas are
needed and locate them in the
appropriate zone.
Entry/ Quiet Zone Messy Zone Active Zone Outdoors Additional Spaces
Transition Zone
Children’s Sleeping / Toileting or Large blocks Imaginative play Large group
personal storage resting changing meeting
Staff personal Reading Eating / snack Dramatic play Building & Private
storage construction & semi‑private
Parent sign‑in & Listening Water Housekeeping Physical activity & Staff work area &
communication movement telephone
Manipulatives Sand Doll play Small motor Staff project storage
activity
Writing Clay Miniatures Horticultural work
Small blocks Painting Puppet play & Scientific and
store front environmental discovery
Maths Collages Music & Quiet play
Woodworking movement
Cooking Gross motor play
Science & nature
Pets
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