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EXTERIOR PLAY SPACE REQUIREMENTS

Quality practice in child care considers the outdoor play space an extension of the classroom, not a space to be limited to specific times of the day such as a school "recess." Ideally, outdoor play makes up a significant portion of the child care day. In well designed high quality centers, children are afforded access to the outdoors at any time, no different than interior areas. This means that the outdoor play areas need to accommodate the total number of children enrolled in the center at one time, so their outdoor time does not need to be scheduled.

The NAEYC Accreditation Guidelines recommend a minimum of 75 sq. ft. of outdoor area for all children enrolled in the center. Most national experts recommend between 100 to 200 sq. ft. per child. Separate play areas need to be provided to meet the developmental needs of infants, toddlers and preschoolers. White Hutchinson's experience in designing outdoor discovery play gardens (heavily landscaped outdoor play areas where a significant amount of the play is nature-based rather than equipment-based) is that a minimum of about 125 sq.ft per child is required to accommodate a developmentally appropriate variety of play, meet the new Americans with Disabilities Guidelines for Outdoor Play Areas and provide outdoor play environments in different zoned areas for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

These recommendations exceed the licensing standards for child care centers in most states. Licensing standards in most state do not reflect quality care, rather they merely set up very minimum standards for protection.

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