Professional Practice
A Developmental Perspective for Designing Play and Learning Outdoor Spaces
Date: 3/29/2023 - 3/29/2023
Location(s): International
Description:
Design thinking and participatory design processes ensure outdoor play and learning environments address the needs of children all ages (infants, toddlers, preschoolers, school age) and their families. Designing outdoor play and learning with a developmental lens also supports the inclusion of multi-age users, people with different abilities, interests, and cultures securing engagement over time. Evidence based design is a tool for equity and inclusion.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify at least 2 affordances that will add richness to designed outdoor environments for early childhood.
- Summarize the concepts of environmental variety, complexity, and responsiveness of the designed space to entice young children engagement with the environment.
- Name at least 2 strategies that support equity and experiential learning in outdoor play and learning environments.
- In your own words, explain at least 1 theoretical concept related to creating and managing high-quality outdoor environments to support equity and experiential learning.