DESIGN GUIDELINES
Three Design Guidelines serve as the foundation to the five Principles. A good example would be that an organization could not foster the Principle of Play if they could not provide a Safe environment.
- Welcoming of Diversity and Uniqueness: Research indicates the cultural sensitivity of staff and providing culturally appropriate activities are characteristics of quality programs.
- Safe: Higher-quality programs are likely to have better policies and practices related to children’s physical and emotional health and safety. Quality programs also allow for adequate space for a variety of safe activities.
- Developmentally Appropriate: Research cited age-stage/developmentally appropriate programming as the second-most prevalent characteristic of quality programs for children, following the presence of a caring adult.