Creating outdoor play and learning environments: A case study

Abstract

Physical environments impact on children's behaviour (Touhill, 2011). When Gayle and Trevor bought TG's Armidale, they watched the children run madly about in the barren outdoor area, crashing bikes into the fences, yelling, and engaging in numerous conflicts and a lot of destructive play. They thought of the outdoor area as a blank canvas; one upon which they could create something exciting for the children and the staff. Trevor, a landscape gardener, and Gayle, an experienced early childhood educator, reflected on the play experiences they had had as children - an idea supported by the founder of Plant Earth Playscapes, Rusty Keller (Anonymous, 2011) - and they thought about their early childhood philosophy. They both believed in the importance of supporting children's creativity and the need to provide opportunities for children to explore. They liked the idea of having different play spaces in the outdoors, and gave much thought to how children might transition from one space to another.