Creating Classroom Spaces

As educators, we create new spaces and invitations for children. When we begin to create a unique space or remodel an existing one, we need to examine one important question.

In our workshops, hundreds of people have shared their play stories. In every story, educators describe the feelings of the space where they enjoyed playing, plus the sensory and emotional experience each space offered. What they described is called place identity.

Thomas G. David and Carol Simon Weinstein wrote Spaces for Children. The book describes place identity as "the notion that a sense of self includes a sense of place. People do not see themselves as individuals in a vacuum. We see ourselves as individuals who live in certain places with certain objects." When children experience place identity, they are making connections to the classroom environment.

Anita Rui Olds is the author of the Child Care Design Guide. In the book, she shares the design role of an educator. All educators need "to understand what nourishes our children, and to use this awareness to inform every step of the design process." She also shares four basic environmental needs of all children, movement, comfort, competence, and control. Learning more about the environmental needs of children helps educators create new spaces that support children's learning experiences.

How do we design spaces and invitations that support children's experiences?

Movement is the foundation for intellectual development in children. Restricting children's movement contributes to difficulty in learning and behavioral challenges. Children need active spaces where they can take risks and learn by doing. The design of a classroom influences development, but in many programs, young children have limited control of the classroom design. To support more movement, create invitations for small and large motor activities inside and outside the classroom. Observe and talk to children about their play and adapt current invitations to support new movement opportunities.

Comfort is a necessary ingredient of space design. Children are most comfortable in a classroom space where the stimulation level is moderate and varied. Areas with dramatic fluctuations in stimulation disorient children. Often educators make dramatic changes to floors, materials, furniture, lighting, and color. Physical changes in the classroom must blend with existing materials, so the transition is gentle. Having some predictable materials remaining helps children transition to a new environment.

Competence is a strong feeling you want to create in a space design. Young children develop through self-selected experiences that give feedback. Children work and play while moving through a cycle of creating, failing, redoing, and succeeding. This process provides feedback about their interactions with materials and space. Three factors need to be included in a space design to support learning. Children need a variety of things to do, multiple areas to do them, and well-organized and accessible materials.

Control is the last environmental factor when designing a new space for children. In the book Spaces for Children, David and Weinstein share about design and control. "A crucial function of the designed environment is to enhance the drive for competence by inviting children with opportunities to develop mastery and control over their physical surroundings."Children want to work in spaces where they can exercise control. Children want to have a sense of connection and predict what will happen while orienting their bodies within a space. Children who feel a sense of control in the classroom learn more than children who feel restricted.

All spaces we design for children need balance. Our role is to balance our classroom spaces to the best of our ability, given our work area. Childcare takes place in many different types of spaces. Through observation and thoughtful practice, we can create and reinvent our spaces. Spaces and invitations that bring children together. Our thoughtfulness in this area of our work significantly influences the children in our care. Remember what outcomes you wish to influence as you create new and exciting spaces for your learning community.