Getting ready for September!

 The countdown is on until you have some wonderful new faces in your service in September, so now is the time for sprucing up your environment, doing renovations,moving furniture or maybe a new coat of paint.

 The physical environment, the people and objects in it and the time available influence how children play and the benefits they get from play.(Aistear) The physical environment affects children , staff and their interactions.A well desgned environment promotes childrens individual and social development

Start at the beginning of your service and make your way round, asking ‘What improvements and changes can I make in each area? Look at the service from a child’s perspective- kneeling down or even lying down in the baby room- and look at the various areas:

Dens, snugs and cosy places- some children like having somewhere to retreat to, away from activity, and it’s nice to have a quiet space for connecting with children.   September is a time for settling in and getting to know each other.Organise spaces for solitary as well as group play.A tunnel or carpeted snug can provide a welcome quiet space.
Play spaces – Provide adequate uncluttered space so children can move freely between areas and activities, and have room to explore, experiment and socialize with each other.   Sleeping area- are there enough cots, is it warm,cosy and inviting? Dining area – this is an important opportunity for children and adults to enjoy the dining experience and social interaction. Table cloths,table mats,flowers in a small vase, age appropriate utensils and furniture help set the scene.
Interest areas- when your space is divided into interest areas it encourages children to explore,make things, experiment and pursue their own interests – ie block area,art area,writing area,home corner,water and/or sand area,music corner, book corner, science area manipulative area and so on.   Storage areas – are there low-level storage units so children can access boxes of toys independently? Display spaces- are there spaces to display children’s work in progress, finished projects- walls, shelves, tables …?
Resources:   Toy audit- get rid of toys that have past their prime or are missing bits- likewise jigsaws and puzzles,crayons(or maybe you want to make candles with the crayons)   cushions and bolsters, soft animals, sand and bean-bag toy    soft-play resources, for example, mats, tubes, cubes and cylinders for tumbling and rolling with
tunnels, cardboard boxes, etc for crawling into and through   blankets and cushions of all different sizes and weighted blankets and fabric toys filled with sand or beans   open ended natural materials to explore and displayed attractively
balls of all descriptions, soft and squishy ones, ball pools,gym balls and spacehoppers.   ribbons and scarves, mobiles, pieces of material hanging from the ceiling   blankets and snugglies of different textures and weights; child-sized sleeping bags; home-made fleecy ‘bags’ for sitting or snuggling in
mirrors Have plenty of brushes, brooms and dustpans for children’s self-initiated purposes as well as regular sweeping and tidying up. household resources, adult and child sized – empty grocery boxes, brooms, mops and buckets, dustpans; and shopping baskets for carrying around,calculators etc

Outside:

bring the indoors outside:Are the follwoing available to take outside for exploration magnifying glass for insect hunting, pen,paper, small world animals and toys-children will enjoy playing with the animals and toy characters in sand, water,grass and mud;making dens and caves for them, and creating stories

• gardening resources

• things to push, pull, lift and carry – tyres and crates, blocks and boxes, planks, boards, bricks, bags, baskets and suitcases

• things with wheels – wagons, carts and wheelbarrows, trolleys and prams. Fix wheels to planks or boards for children to use for transporting things or for lying down on and scooting along on their backs or tummies

• open-ended climbing equipment that offers lots of possibilities for stretching, hanging, sliding, as well as climbing and clambering, such as A-frames and planks. Encourage children to design their own arrangement and watch how creative they are in using them

• make sure there is access to outside and include areas for digging and planting, for sand, water, mud, tunnels, tyres, trees, logs and grass, and otehr surfaces

Deocorate trees and bushes with scarves, cds, ornaments-

‘To create a jungle environment we hung large camouflage nets from the ceilings and added big plastic jungle plants, leaves and different types of animal print materials. We made a cave with a pop-up tent where lions and tigers could hide away. The children sponge painted the windows and created a fire pit out of natural materials. They loved to fill up the rucksacks with exploring equipment — binoculars, magnifying glasses, compasses and torches – and go off on a trek through the jungle. We also put in lots of animals and soft toys, photographs and books and shared lots of new words with them.

https://www.earlychildhoodireland.ie/strand-3-space-or-risk-rich-environment-that-promotes-physical-health-and-educational-development/

 http://www.letthechildrenplay.net/2013/03/be-reggio-inspired-outdoor-environments.html

http://www.letthechildrenplay.net/2013/03/be-reggio-inspired-indoor-learning.html

 http://pinterest.com/playbasedclssrm/reggio-emilia/

As with everything the environment may be set up, but its how you interact with the children in it that counts!