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Here you’ll find guidance and inspiration for setting up your ECE classroom. Learn about key interest areas, browse photos of ECE classrooms across OUSD for ideas, and discover essential environmental supports like visual schedules, family walls, labels, and more.
Environment Checklists
Environment Checklists
Use these checklists to help you get started with setting up your environment!
Early Childhood Environments.pdfNew TK Classrooms Guidance
Interest Areas
Interest Areas
To learn more, read "The Creative Curriculum for Preschool: The Foundation."
Scroll down to explore each interest area in detail and see how they are set up in various ECE classrooms across OUSD.
What are interest areas?
Interest areas are classroom zones designed to engage children in focused activities, fostering development across various domains. Catering to diverse interests and learning styles, these areas support individual needs and promote holistic learning.
Here are the 10 basic interest areas recommended for ECE
We recommend having at least 5 of these in your classroom
1. Block Area
1. Block Area
Promotes creativity, problem-solving, spatial awareness, and fine motor skills. It provides a space for children to build and experiment, enhancing their understanding of balance, geometry, and physics. This area encourages cooperative play, communication, and teamwork. It is designed for high mobility and frequent interaction.
Full unit block set
At least one other type of blocks (hollow, brick, foam, plastic blocks, etc.)
Props (people, animals, transportation vehicles, handmade blocks)
Literacy materials (paper, pencils, book about construction/buildings)
2. Dramatic Play
2. Dramatic Play
Promotes imagination, emotional expression, social skills, language development, and cognitive growth. It offers a space for children to act out scenarios, enhancing empathy, communication, and problem-solving. This area supports physical development, cultural awareness, and is designed for high mobility and frequent interaction.
Homelike furniture and homelike accessories
Pots, pans, dishes, and cooking utensils
Food
Dress-up clothes (occupations, cultures, gender)
Literacy (calendars, clipboards, paper, pencils, cookbooks, etc.)
Materials for creating new settings for dramatic play throughout the year
3. Toys and Games
3. Toys and Games
Promotes cognitive development, problem-solving, and social skills. It provides a playful space for children to engage with a variety of toys and games, enhancing their understanding of concepts like numbers, patterns, and strategy. This area is designed for high mobility and frequent interaction, allowing for both independent play and group activities.
Materials:
Puzzle racks/ Puzzles (with knobs, jumbo and regular size)
Self-correcting toys (stacking, nesting, sorting, etc.)
Open-ended toys (geoboards, tangrams, beads, linking cubes, counting bears, etc.)
Cooperative games (card games, board games, etc.)
Literacy-related toys & games
4. Art Area
4. Art Area
Promotes creativity, self-expression, and fine motor skills. This area encourages imagination, decision-making, and emotional expression. It supports cognitive development, hand-eye coordination, and is designed for high mobility and frequent interaction, allowing for both individual creativity and collaborative projects.
Materials:
Easel
Drying rack
Paper (cardstock, construction, butcher, cardboard, newspaper, etc.)
Painting materials (brushes, paint, painting tools, finger paint, watercolor, etc.)
Drawing tools (pencils, crayons, markers, oil pastels, etc.)
Collaging materials (scissors, glue, tape, loose parts, etc.)
Molding materials (clay, playdough, rolling pins, etc.)
3D materials (soft wood, woodworking tools, craft sticks, etc.)
5. Library Area
5. Library Area
Promotes literacy, language development, and a love for reading. It provides a cozy space for children to explore books, enhancing their vocabulary, comprehension, and storytelling skills. This area encourages quiet reflection, listening, and imagination. It is designed for low mobility and seclusion, offering a calm environment for individual or small group reading.
Materials:
Area rug
Cozy furnishings
Audio player with headphones
Bookshelf/ Books
Writing materials (paper, pencil, envelopes, etc.)
Letter and word manipulatives
Storytelling props (puppets, flannel boards, magnetic boards, etc.)
6. Discovery Area
6. Discovery Area
Promotes curiosity, scientific thinking, and sensory exploration. It offers a space for children to investigate and experiment with natural materials, enhancing their understanding of the environment, cause-and-effect relationships, and observational skills. This area is designed for high mobility and provides a balance of seclusion for individual exploration and openness for collaborative learning. Diverse materials and guided exploration enrich the experience, making the Discovery Area essential for holistic child development.
Materials:
Basic tools (magnifying glasses, tweezer, balance scale, etc.)
Life science materials (plants, seeds, animals, etc.)
Physical science materials (magnets, mirrors, balls, etc.)
Earth science materials (rocks, soil, seashells, sand, water, etc.)
Literacy (paper, pencils, books about displays, etc)
7. Sand & Water
7. Sand & Water
Promotes sensory exploration, fine motor skills, and scientific thinking. It provides a tactile space for children to experiment with materials, enhancing their understanding of concepts like volume, texture, and cause-and-effect. This area encourages creativity, problem-solving, and cooperative play. It supports cognitive development, hand-eye coordination, and is designed for high mobility and frequent interaction.
Materials:
Sand & Water Table
Props for sand play (scoops, buckets, measuring cups, funnels, etc.)
Props for water play (eye droppers, whisks, strainers, etc.)
Child-size cleaning set (mops, rags, brooms, dustpans, etc.)
8. Music & Movement
8. Music & Movement
Promotes physical activity, rhythm, and auditory skills. It provides a lively space for children to explore musical instruments, dance, and express themselves through movement, enhancing their coordination, listening skills, and sense of rhythm. This area encourages creativity, emotional expression, and social interaction. It supports cognitive development, gross motor skills, and is designed for high mobility and frequent interaction.
Materials:
Music player
Diverse music
Rhythm instruments (rhythm sticks, drums, cymbals, maracas, etc.)
Dance and movement props (streamers, scarves, dancing ribbon, etc.)
Tumbling mats
*Calming Area
*Calming Area
A Calming Area is a designated space in the classroom where children can find a quiet, comforting environment to relax, reflect, and manage their emotions. This area is designed to foster self-regulation, emotional intelligence, and social skills. It provides tools and resources to help children practice mindfulness, calm down when they are upset, and learn conflict resolution strategies. The Calming Area encourages a sense of safety, emotional expression, and interpersonal understanding, supporting overall mental well-being and social development.
Materials:
Comfortable seating (cushions, bean bags, or soft chairs)
Soft lighting(lamps, fairy lights)
Calming visuals (posters of nature scenes, peaceful images)
Books on emotions, mindfulness, and social stories
Sensory tools (stress balls, fidget toys, sensory bottles)
Calm down jars with glitter and water
Feelings chart to help children identify and express emotions
Conflict resolution tools (peaceful communication cards, problem-solving steps chart)
Nature elements (plants, natural materials)
Quiet music (nature sounds, soft instrumental music
Virtual Tours
Virtual Tours
(COMING SOON)
Check out our growing library of virtual ECE classroom tours! This space is designed to give you a window into real learning environments across our deoartment As we continue to build this collection, you'll be able to explore how educators design spaces that support play-based, developmentally appropriate learning
Environment Essentials
Environment Essentials
Use the FREE myKaplan Classroom FloorPlanner to design the classroom perfect for your needs
Post at adult eye level to highlight learning and prompt deeper thinking and communication.
To support young children's learning and development, every ECE classroom should include:
Below, you’ll find ideas and tools to help you create these foundational resources.
Visual Daily Schedules
Visual Daily Schedules
Visual schedules help young children understand routines, feel safe, and transition smoothly between activities. We highly encourage including photos of the children in your class to support representation and a strong sense of belonging.
Here you will find a variety of visual schedule templates available in different languages, tailored to meet the diverse needs of your classroom.
Labels
Labels
In our ECE classrooms, we label everything! Labels support organization, promote pre-literacy skills, and build independence and autonomy. Since young children are still learning to read, our labels include pictures (the most essential part) paired with text to help children make connections between objects and words.
Here, you’ll find ready-to-print multilingual labels with images to create a literacy-rich and child-centered environment.
3 effective tips for using labels in an ECE classroom:
3 effective tips for using labels in an ECE classroom:
Use Real Photos
Incorporate real-life images of the items (not just clipart) to help young learners, especially dual language learners and children with special needs, make clear visual connections.
2. Double Label: Shelf & Bin
Place one label on the shelf and an identical one on the bin. This supports clean-up routines by helping students match items to their correct spot independently.
3. Use Color to Show Language Differences
When labeling in multiple languages (e.g., English and Spanish), assign a distinct color to each language. This helps children differentiate between languages and supports bilingual language development.
Download & Print Labels
Download & Print Labels
Our multilingual labels (English, Spanish, and Vietnamese) pair with pictures of classroom materials to help students, especially those still learning to read, connect objects with words in their home language.
You can find even more labels on Teachers Pay Teachers. Click here to explore additional options.
Expectations & Agreements
Expectations & Agreements
Displaying classroom agreements with visuals is crucial for young children, as it makes rules clear and accessible. Adding students' pictures personalizes the expectations, making them more meaningful and encouraging ownership of behavior. Co-creating these agreements further deepens their connection to the rules.
Here you will find resources for co-creating your classroom agreements/expectations and reinforcing them in your classroom
In OUSD ECE, our key agreements are...
We are Safe, We are Kind, We are Responsible
To help children understand and familiarize themselves with these expectations, we dedicate a significant part of the First Six Weeks of school to explicitly teaching and reinforcing them.
The Creative Curriculum: Building Your Classroom Community Teaching Guide emphasizes this in Week 3, where the focus question is "What are our rules?"
See Teaching Guide for more information
However, setting clear expectations begins on day one. From the very start, we model, practice, and reinforce every routine and behavior we want to see. For example:
Practice how to clean up together when you ring the bell
Show and practice how to line up for lunch
Model how to ask for a turn or share materials
During the first few weeks, be present and engaged in each interest area. Guide children through procedures step-by-step and take every opportunity to name the behaviors you want to encourage, with Positive Descriptive Acknowledgements:
“You cleaned up the blocks, you're being responsible.” “You’re giving her a turn with the doll, you're being kind.” "You are walking inside the classroom, you are being safe"
Click here to learn more about Positive Descriptive Acknowledgement (PDA), an essential practice in ECE.
By consistently connecting actions to our shared agreements, children begin to build a clear and meaningful understanding of what it looks like to be safe, kind, and responsible in the classroom.
Resources
Resources
Here you will find some ideas and resources to help you display your expectations and some strategies to support your students with embodying them.
Ms. Karen at REACH Academy posts PDA prompts at adult eye-level as a reminder for her and her support staff to highlight students' behaviors
Check out this blog post about how teachers are helping children understand the concept of a "rule"
Family Wall
Family Wall
Creating a family picture wall at the beggining of the school year fosters a sense of belonging and comfort for young children. Displaying family photos helps children feel connected and secure, knowing their home life is valued in the classroom. Teachers can invite families to share photos or take pictures during pickup and drop-off. This approach strengthens the home-school connection and creates a welcoming, inclusive environment where every child feels seen and supported.
Here you will find ideas and resources for creating a Family Wall.
Here is a letter to families in English and Spanish to help you request Family Photos:
After receiving pictures, have students help hang them on the wall… After a few weeks, you can create a family album with the photos and add them to your library or dramatic play area!
Promoting Literacy
Promoting Literacy
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