What do you think when someone says learning-rich environment? Do you envision a room with desks and students? Do you see a library? Do you just think, “what the hell does that mean?”. You wouldn’t be alone if so. Good news! You’ve seen one before and creating one is super simple. Desks aren’t even necessary.

Think about those children’s books with the perfect preschools. All the kids playing, the room full of toys, equipment, and yes, books. Simply put, a learning-rich environment is one where children and teens are inspired to explore, read, create, and be in control of their learning. It involves a lot of play (yes, even for adults!)

So how can you set up a learning-rich environment in your home (or school) whether you are homeschooling or would just like to continue supporting your child after school hours? Here are some tips!

1. Make it accessible. Safety is paramount, but some tools should be easily accessible such as crayons, paper, blocks, books, and other favorite open-ended toys. Utilize cubbies and shelves so that your learner can pick and choose what they want. when they want.

2. Toys are welcome! Toys get a bad wrap, but many are fantastic. A great toy is open-ended, meaning it can be played with multiple ways and fosters creativity. Toys like blocks, play-doh or clay, older blankets for forts, and dolls are great for imaginative and self-directed learning. Blocks help with spatial learning, while clay/play-doh is great for building fine motor skills, forts build engineering skills, and dolls can help develop social-emotional skills. Toys can grow with children. Older kids love action figures, they still love dress-up clothes and dramatic play, and can handle more complex art materials.

3. Arrange the room smartly. Think about the flow of your room and how you’ll need to keep much of it open for optimal movement. Use shelving and organizational furniture to your advantage. More importantly, it might help your child remember where things go (and learn the value of tidiness and order) if you can place similar things together. Think of having a writing area, a science area, a toy area, a book nook, a sensory area, etc.

4. Use posters/signage to help keep routine and build literacy skills. Because your child will have a little more free range, you’ll want to instill a sense of responsibility in them so that they help keep things clean. Posters and signs not only remind them where things go or when to put them away (when they get something new out or start a new learning endeavor), but they build literacy skills. We educators actually call this a literacy-rich environment. For younger children, seeing letters and the names of things written helps them recognize patterns necessary for reading. You can adapt this for older kids by writing in another language!

5. Don’t be afraid of tech! Modern technology has its place. There are plenty of programs and apps that enhance learning when used appropriately! Having a computer or tablet is a great addition. You can of course, set limits, but I do recommend having a internet-connected device to watch educational videos, review material, and more.

6. Lastly, a learning-rich environment has tons of books! And it has people who model to their student the love of reading. Hit up thrift stores, garage sales, and consignment shops for books.

I hope this clarifies what a learning-rich environment is, what it looks like, and how to set up your home to inspire your child to be a lifelong learner.

-Heather