PBS 140 Child Care Center Design Guide - The Whole Building ...

CHAPTER 6: SITE DESIGN
can result in injuries when one child unexpectedly jumps off of it), or spring
toys (which can severly harm a child as he or she walks by the relatively
heavy, moving toy).
Small berms and hills, large rocks, stumps, trees or bushes provide settings
and obstacles for children to climb over, jump on, dodge around, or hide
behind. All of these present desirable challenges. Playing with wheeled
toys, such as tricycles and wagons, helps to develop coordination and
physical strength. The large space required for these activities and the
boisterous character of this play dictate that this area be situated away
from quieter ones. Because local licensing has a wide range of interpretation
of appropriate play yard design, obtaining their “buy-in” to the design concept
as soon as possible is very important.
Play areas should be made accessible to children with disabilities. The
proposed rules are quite complex and the designer should consult with
playground equipment manufacturers and refer to the web site:
www.access-board.gov/
To provide a safe environment that still allows gross motor activity, the
movement of the children themselves rather than equipment is key. In
addition, the following elements are not to be used in GSA play yards as
they have been found to be unsafe in the group care setting:
� Metal slides
� Enclosed tunnel slides
� Traditional seesaws
� Spring mounted, rocking toys with very heavy animal seats which can
strike a child (There are acceptable, lighter weight rocking toy alternatives).
� Swings, other than tire swings
6-6
6.6 Play Yards for Different
Age Groups
6.6.1 Infant Outdoor Play Areas:
Play areas for infants require special design considerations. Separate
spaces for infants should be near toddler play areas, providing visual and
audible connections and limited physical contact. Ideally, infant play areas
should be exposed to the natural environment, though shielded from the
extremes of wind and sun.
Infant play area surfaces should consist of soft, resilient materials that
protect crawling children and provide a comfortable surface on which they
can sit. Soft surfaces should have different textures and (not garish) colors
denoting changes in activities and challenges. Developmentally appropriate
challenges should be situated within bounded areas or behind slight barriers
requiring mastery before the child may venture into the next area. These
challenges could take the form of crawling spaces with slight inclines or
undulations, low, easy to cross barriers or berms, pull up bars, and low
platforms and slides. There must be some surface that is hard enough to
allow the use of wheeled and push toys.
6.6.2 Toddler Outdoor Play Areas:
Toddlers should have play areas for walking, jumping, climbing, running,
drawing, painting, block play, group play, sorting, and exploring. The toddler
play environment should allow for a wide range of movement and stimulate
the senses through the novelty and variety of challenges. Simple, versatile
climbing equipment is more appropriate for toddlers than scaled down
versions of older children’s play structures. Toddlers crave and enjoy semienclosed
spaces such as small play houses or climb-through tunnels. Other
favorite play equipment for toddlers includes small slides. Toddlers seek
out experiences with motion or movement. All play structures in toddler
areas must be surrounded by a resilient surface. A variety of surfaces and
materials should be provided including sand and dirt, pavement, and open
grassy areas where toddlers can use an abundance of play objects. When
combined with toys, sand becomes a major resource for toddler play.
There must be hard surface areas and paths that support wheeled toy
play. All sand areas require fitted water-permeable covers to deter rodents
and other pests.
PBS-140 - July 2003