Day Care Centers Physical Environment
Physical Indoor Environment of Day Care Centers
There is a lot of physical elements that make up the day care centers environment. It is the indoor environment that the children are surrounded by that reflects on their mood even at this very young age. The physical indoor environment of the day care centers that your child may spend most of their day is very important.
Day Care Centers Air
One of the most important elements is having fresh clean air from natural ventilation for the children to breath. Many health issues are caused by breathing inferior quality air. The effects can show up now, as well as in their later life. If the day care centers can not supply natural ventilation they must have a well maintained clean air conditioning system including regular servicing of the entire system including its ducting and any holding tanks. Whatever method is used it must provide an adequate room temperature, not too cold and not too hot.
Day Care Centers Light
The other most important element is light. It is much preferable to have day care centers with large windows providing natural light into the rooms. The sun beaming in through a window not only provides a sense of energy and vitality to the children but also gives vitamin D to their bodies. The windows should preferably be at child height allowing the children to look outside. Natural light can be controlled using curtains and blinds.
When natural light from outside is not available then lighting must be to day care centers building regulations or preferably have more LUX than the regulation requirements. Different areas require different LUX of light depending on the task being undertaken. A reading area should be moderately lit using some spot down lights. A resting or sleeping area a lower LUX of light and the office and waiting rooms should be well lit. If children are exposed to an environment of poor light for long periods of time this can cause eye strain and have an effect on their eye sight.
Day Care Centers Noise
The damping of sound in day care centers is important. Children by nature tend to be noisy so efforts have to be taken in the design of day care centers to dampen the sound using sound absorbing material to keep the noise decibel levels within the center to as low as possible. Too much continuous noise will unsettle the children particularly at rest time.
Day Care Centers Colors
The use of interior wall, ceiling and floor colors in day care centers is a simple way to enhance the environment. Colors change the way we feel, it changes our perception of the size and warmth of an area. Using appropriate color schemes is an easy way to achieve a balanced, harmonious environment for children. If day care centers have mixed different shades of oranges, reds and yellows it will evoke positive, cheerful reactions where as in a resting area if they have used neutral colors like pale gray, beige and taupe the child’s brain will receive a restful message.
Conclusion For Better Day Care Centers Environment
The focus here has only been on the indoor day care centers environment which has a great effect on the enjoyment of your child’s day at the centers. The air quality, the use of natural light, the colors used and the control of noise all have an effect. Purpose built day care centers should if well planned and designed from the start, have covered the elements above. But if the centers have been converted from a previous business use than some of these elements may not have been able to have been controlled.