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Aadapted from Linda J. Armstrong’s Family Child Care Homes, 2012, p. 174

Ask yourself the following questions to reflect on your outdoor play space. Write down your responses and share them with your trainer, coach, or family child care administrator.

1. Look at the area just inside and outside the door used to access your outdoor play area. Do children have a breathing space between being inside and stepping out into the play space? If not, how can you create a small transition space?

    

2. Are there places in the outdoor play space where children can rest, relax, or enjoy passive play activities such as bird or cloud watching, reading a book, or simply watching their friends play?

    

3. Take your shoes off and go barefoot in your outdoor environment. Do you feel at least three different ground cover textures? Do these ground covers support the children’s connection to nature? What simple changes could or should you make?

    

4. What options for outdoor play are available? Are children connected to nature as they play?

    

5. What types of living things do children care for in the outdoor play space? Do they have opportunities to care for pets or plants, possibly a garden area?

    

6. If you serve a child with special needs (or if you will enroll a child with special needs in the future) are there meaningful outdoor play activities in this space?