Infants require special provisions to meet their special needs. Special requirements for feeding and bathing and associated activities, waste elimination bathing and sleeping require special spatial & interiors arrangements. Warm clean and dry space to creep & crawl is required. Surroundings should be attractive, sturdy and free from sharp corners & harmful points. As the child grows to pre-school age apart from the above mentioned adequate play space is essential. For school goers separate areas of sleeping, studying and playing are essential.
Children are more interested in the process of using the environment; adults are more interested in achieving a result. “Adults view the environment in terms of form, shapes, and structures and as background. So if something like a couch is in a public place, adults will interpret it only for its socially acceptable use, for sitting upon. Children, on the other hand, interpret the environment holistically and evaluate it for all the ways they can interact with it” How the child uses the environment is related to the child’s psychological development and how much the child has been influenced by the social behavioral norms. Most of young children’s play centers around their incredible imaginations. The environment needs to promote and support imaginative role-play with props and loose parts. However, the environment needs to be open-ended so children can use their imaginations to develop their own play scripts. Highly scripted, structured, and overly themed environments stifle children’s creativity, short-circuit extended play, and can quickly lead to boredom. Designing for children is further complicated. Children’s areas must be adaptable. What was amusing yesterday has become passé today.
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