Safety and Care

ENVIRONMENTS FOR BABIES

Overview
This slide show provides an overview of baby
environments and the considerations that must be
taken in account when setting up an environment
for babies and toddlers.

Always Check for Hazards

Toys need to be screened for their

appropriateness and checked regularly for
any damage.

Damaged toys and equipment need to be

replaced immediately.

When purchasing toys, attention should be

paid to adhering to age restrictions (i.e..
Not suitable for children under the age
of) and Australian Standards.
Baby Walkers are not appropriate for the
care situation.

SETTING UP THE ENVIRONMENT

Setting up the child care environment for
infants/babies means paying careful attention to:

safety issues

provision for rest and sleep

use of appropriate toys and equipment

hygienic and well organised spaces for nappy

changes, toileting, food preparation and feeding.

Sources Image Google

General Considerations
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SPACE
INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
CHOICE OF EQUIPMENT
MOBILITY
SOCIAL NEEDS
SOFTNESS / HARDNESS
SAFETY
ORGANISATION STORAGE AND ACCESS TO MATERIALS
COMMUNICATION OF EXPECTATIONS
AESTHETICS
SCALE
TRAFFIC
FURNITURE
BOUNDARIES AND DIVIDERS

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Educators need comfortable and

physically supportive seating
arrangements for feeding babies

Older babies need freedom to explore

their environment- to crawl, cruise, climb,
run, ride and jump

Babies need quiet spaces to read, rest,

reflect and cuddle

Babies need noisy areas to bang, shake,

dance and sing

Babies need to explore their environment

through their senses - opportunities for
tasting, touching, smelling and watching.

Legislation states that the education and

care services premises has at least 3.25
square metres of unencumbered indoor
space for a babys room (Regulation 107)

What is an Appropriate Environment

for babies/infants
Environments need to be aesthetically pleasing to infants and
babies. This means that they are pleasing to the eye visually
interesting and satisfying.
The aesthetics of an environment refers to a combination of
factors that affect our feelings and our mood.
Elements that contribute to the aesthetics of an environment
include:

Lighting

Colour

Texture

Natural and living things

Displays of photographs

sound

Sources Image Google

Appropriate environments may

pictures and posters
include:

draped material or mosquito

nets

light reflecting materials such

as crystals and cellophane
hanging mobiles

organizational systems for

toys such as appropriate
shelving and tables at the
babys height

cubby houses

photos

covered mattresses for sitting

on and big soft cushions

Infant and toddler spaces

When planning for baby and toddler environments, there are 8
considerations listed below:

Safety

Health

Comfort

Convenience

Child-Size Space

Flexibility

Movement

Choice

In summary, there are many

considerations in providing a safe and
educational environment for babies and
toddlers.
Educators need to be tuned in to babys
needs and adapt the environment to suit.
Babys needs are constantly changing,
and the resources and materials selected
for the baby environment needs to reflect
their ever-changing needs.

Sensory stimulation

Hearing Sensory

It is important for carers to ensure that

childrens sensory hearing is stimulated and
always developing as it is necessary for children
to develop their sensory hearing to their full
potential.

Reading out loud helps stimulate brain

development

Sensory touch contributes in crucial ways to the brain

development. Stimulating the senses sends signals to
childrens brains that helps to strengthen neural pathways
important for all types of learning. When they explore
different textures and materials they are developing their
sense of touch. It is exceedingly important for children to
stimulate and broaden their knowledge of touch as it lays
a foundation for learning other skills including identifying
objects by touch

Touching different types of material such as play dough

or shaving cream helps to stimulate a childs senses
and helps the brain to learn how to distinguish different
objects, materials, textures etc. from one another.

Exploring and playing with different substances such as

water stimulates a childs senses. This child is playing
in a puddle of water which is engaging his touch
sensory but also smell and sight sensors.

Smell sensory

The child is exploring the smell of a flower. It is

stimulating his smell sensory which is developing his
brain and allowing him to identify through smell.

Taste Sensory

This infant is exploring the taste of fruit, which is

stimulating the infants taste senses but also touch,
smell and sight. It is important to allow children to
experiment and explore various foods to help develop
their brains.

Sight Sensory

It is very significant to develop and stimulate a toddler or

infants sight sensory, as it is a very important sense that
we all use daily. Childrens eyes need colour, movement,
shapes, space, objects and different surroundings and
environments to develop their eye sight.

Safe Environments
inside
It is extremely important to
prevent children having access
to cupboards that contain
dangerous items such as knives
and chemicals

Outside safety

It is important for child

care workers to ensure
that outdoor as well as
indoor environments are
safe and clean.

Every child needs to be given a chance to be

independent. It is how humans grow and become
able to look after themselves. It is extremely
important for child care workers to support
independence with toddlers and infants. There are
many things a child care worker can do help
contribute to a childs independence, such as
cooking, walking and hand washing.

Physical milestones

Here are a few examples of infants and

toddlers achieving physical milestones

Treasure Baskets

Treasure baskets

Elinor Goldschmied developed the concept of

treasure baskets.

Treasure baskets offer maximum sensory

exploration and help babies make connections
and construct knowledge about their
environment and themselves.

Every treasure basket is unique with different

household and natural objects.

Treasure baskets

Time- allow up to an
hour of time where
there is minimal
distraction and no
changes of routine.

Space- the basket

should be placed on a
soft mat with cushions
to help support the
baby

Adult should be close

by

Baby should be alert,

comfortable, fresh and
emotionally content.

Activity
Task : Poster
For this task you need to collect images that show
the following key elements of a quality physical
environment for infants and toddlers.

Offer an abundance of sensory stimulation

Are safe for exploration

Support independence

Support mastery of major physical milestones

Are appropriate for sleep times

Are appropriate for meal times

There must be at a minimum eight images on your

poster and the images must cover all areas above.
Under each of the images you will need to briefly
explain the aspects of the environment/experience
that support each area above.