Connect with self - checklist

Activate the senses

What can children see?

• Provide a rich visual experience – shapes, colour contrasts, patterns, mirrors
• Reduce glare – don’t place reflective items in full sun
• Have a consistent colour scheme to help define activity zones

What can children smell?

• Landscape features – fragrant plants
• Interactive/ educational – identify plants by smell

What can children taste?

• Edible plants, fruit trees, vegetables, bush tucker (native edible plants)
• Non-toxic materials – consider children may put things in their mouths

What can children feel?

• Play elements with tactile parts – rough, smooth, prickly, furry, uneven
• Access to natural elements – sand, water, mud, loose rocks, plants
• Textured ground surfaces – feel vibration with pram/bike/wheelchair
• Appropriate materials – consider some materials get hot in sun

What can children hear?

• Musical play (bells, drums, chimes or xylophones)
• Talk tubes (tubes through which children can talk to each other)
• Plants that attract native birds
• Quiet play retreat:
  • place to stop and listen (birds, wind, running water, leaves)
  • small, enclosed or hidden niche with seating
  • consider sound buffers to loud areas/roads

How can children move their bodies?

• Whole body:
  • develop gross motor skills
  • balance, climb, slide, swing, spin, rock, jump
  • consider obstacle course or track for bike/scooter/wheelchair
• Small scale:
  • develop fine motor skills
  • loose parts play, puzzles, building, sorting, drawing, etching

Challenge

Does the playspace offer appropriate levels of challenge?

• Range of challenges for children of different abilities (gross motor and fine motor)
• Graduating challenges – easy to hard (to help build confidence)
• Elements of uncertainty or unpredictability (to help children evaluate risk)
• High structures which everyone can access by different routes varying in difficulty
• Not just physical challenges – consider problem solving or memory games

“An area that provides a quiet retreat when overwhelmed by noise or sight of other people.”

Stimulate imagination

• Are there open spaces with no equipment for unstructured play?
• Can children connect with nature?
  • Access to nature – plants, trees, mud, rocks, water, logs, flowers, sticks, seeds
  • Encourage nature play – bug hunting, digging, gathering, constructing
• Does the place tell a story?
  • Use interactive elements to tell stories that are unique to the site, surrounding area, culture, values, history
• Is there themed equipment that encourages imagination play?
  • Stage/platform, amphitheatre, boat, race car, house, shops, animals
• What makes the playspace unique?
  • Consider custom equipment or art to make the play experience special
• Are there places to go exploring?
  • Maze, winding path, navigation, Braille trail, seek and find