Meeting Quality Area 3 Physical Environment:

Quality Area 3

3.1.3 Facilities are designed or adapted to ensure access and participation by every child in the service and to allow flexible use, and interaction between indoor and outdoor space. 

Suggestion: Take photos of all the resources/equipment you have for your outside space, laminate them and then create a ‘child directed outside program’ at child height.  If you use a felt board and attach velcro dots to your photos the children have a visual to choose which items they would like to have outside that day.  The photos assist with language barriers of younger children and ensure the children are crating the outdoor space they want to play in.

Suggestion: Create free flowing indoor and outdoor environments by having activities set up on verandah with an Educator outside and other inside so that children have more space to move, create and learn.  This is an important aspect of the NQS as Officers want to see how easy it is for children to move between in and outdoor playspaces.

So much beauty can be found in nature.  Take the children for a walk outside and ask some questions:

“What shapes can you find?”

“What colours can you see?”

“What trees can you name?”

“What does that feel like?”