Creating High Quality Outdoor Play Spaces

Our user-friendly Play Space Assessment Survey will help you create safe, age-appropriate outdoor play environments that encourage active play and movement opportunities, and provide educators a place to tap into nature-based learning.

Creating a brand new space? Use it as a planning tool. Want to enhance an existing outdoor play space? Use the assessment to help you target areas in need of the most improvement and help you prioritize your project tasks.

• Preschool Play Space Assessment (3-5) [English] [Spanish
• Infant/Toddler Play Space Assessment [English] [Spanish]  

Want even more ideas? Download our Tip Sheet, Ten Tips to Enhance the Environment.

Clayton Early Learning Head Start Center Project Sheet

Planning Resources:

When designing a play space, it's always a good idea to do a little research to help inspire you and boost your creativity. One great way to do that is to tour other outdoor play spaces, including parks, playgrounds and other preschools and child care programs. What do you like? What inspires you? What experiences do you want the children to have?

Here are a few more resources we know will help you tap into your inner designer:

• Natural Playscapes by Rusty Keeler
  
• Plants for Play by Robin Moore
  
• Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformation by Sharon Danks
• The Natural Learning Initiative website
• Nature Grounds website
• The Build a Playground section of the KaBOOM! website
• The Natural World landing page on Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLCK)