All adults will recall instances where they’ve struggled to live, work, or navigate through an environment – home, shopping mall, college campus – and the resulting frustration it creates. Young children are not immune to such frustration, and administrators and designers of Rockville day care center environments know that very well. When kids can’t easily move through the designated areas, for play, or for individual or group activities, it impacts their ability to learn. It also impacts the behavior modification efforts that staff and educators at the center strive hard for.
Promoting Effective Learning Through Room Design
Creative indoor environments can influence learning, have positive impact to a child’s development, and infuses trust and confidence between children, their peers, and teachers. Exposing children to the right Rockville day care environment also promotes a sense of pride and belonging. An inviting environment also changes a child’s outlook and behavior towards the care-giving facility. Faced with the prospect of returning to an inviting environment, young kids are likely to have fewer hesitations (“tantrums”) to returning there every day.
1. Sense of safety: Spacious indoor spaces, devoid of clutter, promote a sense of confidence where kids can move about freely, without fear of bumping into items or tripping over things. They feel safe, so they don’t sit at a designated spot, but move around – which is healthy.
2. Sense of responsibility: Kids often mimic the behavior of adults. When teachers and caregivers put things back in place (toys and books from a day’s activity), young kids at a Rockville daycare often understand that’s the right thing to do – tidy-up after yourself. However, if shelves are too high and unreachable, a child might not feel the responsibility for putting things in their place – a behavioral trait that educators try hard to impart.
3. Stroking imagination: Growth and learning comes from experimentation. However, if the room doesn’t allow kids to easily access materials or spaces needed to use their imagination – e.g., toys locked in boxes, or painting supplies in hard-to-reach spots – it’ll stifle their growth and imagination.
4. Cheering them up: When kids and parents walk into any Rockville day care center, they’re greeted to well-lit, bright, vibrantly decorated rooms, corridors, and common areas. These features have an uplifting impact on a child’s mood, making them more amenable to learning, playing, and sharing. Lively indoor environments promote positive behavior, and can cheer kids when they’re having a “difficult” time at the center.
In general, creative indoor environments impact a range of behavior in children, that have a direct impact on how kids learn and develop. From frustration and anger, to sadness and happiness, to energetic, calm, and proud, room layout and design makes a difference.
Building Blocks to Creative Environments
Children at a Rockville daycare have the benefit of creative environments in which they flourish and grow. Not only are the Centers well-stocked with age-appropriate books, toys, and arts and craft supplies, but kids learn, play, eat and exercise in spaces that motivate positive behavior in them. Ample storage space, layouts that respect each child’s privacy, space for individual and group activities, and lots of vibrant displays and exhibits also have a positive influence on a child’s behavior within, and outside of the daycare environment.
