Green Building: Going…Going…Green!

Jump To: << Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next >>

HomeTown's Living Courts are especially important places for small children. Children cannot sense that something is "arriving" until it hits them - this is why children are so vulnerable to speeding cars because their sense of motion and movement is so very limited. This is why children intuitively feel so safe in a Living Court. There is a hierarchy of spaces that children intuitively relate to. First, there's the private garden patio or porch on the front of the house. Because it is attached to the house, and separated from the Living Court, the patio or porch is an emotionally safe zone from which children can venture forth. The "gateway" at the entry to the Living Court is a natural emotional barrier that small children usually won't go beyond because they can no longer see the front door of their house. The entire Living Court thus becomes a safe playground. Children prefer hard surfaces (concrete sidewalks, patios, etc.) to grass for 65% to 80% of the time - the oversized walks, patios, porches, and gathering places meet these needs. The 5' wide sidewalk is a "kid's street" - it's wide enough for tricycles and big wheels to pass each other. The kids draw a lot of chalk art on the common patio and sidewalk. Easter egg hunts and Halloween parties and birthdays are all celebrated in the Living Courts.

In HomeTown the outside spaces around the home are most important to small children. Research has shown that children under 5 feel safer and more secure if they are within eyesight of the front door of their home and within 30' of the front door. For children to develop their interpersonal skills they need to be able to play freely with other children where parents can observe them without interrupting them. For children to develop motor skills and to satisfy their inquisitiveness, they need areas close to home they can use casually and for brief spurts of time without relying on adults, because adults do not have as much time as children need to meet their intermittent, random developmental time needs. The porch with its railing or the garden patio with its landscaping provide an intimate outdoor room where kids quickly imagine a "house" for play. There is a wide range of play around the front door involving the structure and the landscape and critters - ants, ladybugs, caterpillars, etc. Toddlers love to just run up and down the front walk and sit on the steps. Preschoolers love to ride their tricycles and bicycles up and down the "kids street."

A HomeTown Living Court is a special place for families with small children. The Living Court is truly a child-friendly environment that offers more opportunities for play and spontaneous interaction than any other housing type.

Jump To: << Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next >>