Washington Administrative Code › Title 110 - Children, Youth, and Families, Department of › Chapter 110-300 - Foundational quality standards for early learning programs › SPACE AND FURNISHINGS › Section 110-300-0145 - Outdoor early learning program space

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) An early learning provider must visually
				inspect outdoor program space and equipment daily to ensure outdoor areas and
				equipment are free of hazards.
(2)
				Outdoor play space must contain a minimum of seventy-five square feet of
				licensed usable space per child accessing the play space at any given time. An
				early learning provider may develop an alternate plan if an early learning
				program does not have enough outdoor play space to accommodate all enrolled
				children at once, such as rotating groups of children to play outdoors or using
				an offsite play area. The department must approve alternate plans to use
				off-site play spaces.
(3) An early
				learning program must have shaded areas in outdoor play space provided by
				trees, buildings, or shade structures.
(4) Outdoor play space must promote a variety
				of age and developmentally appropriate active play areas for children in care.
				Activities must encourage and promote both moderate and vigorous physical
				activity such as running, jumping, skipping, throwing, pedaling, pushing,
				pulling, kicking, and climbing.
(5)
				When the licensed outdoor play space is not immediately adjacent to the early
				learning program site, an early learning provider must use a safe route when
				moving to and from the licensed outdoor play space.
(6) Licensed outdoor play areas must be
				enclosed with a fence or barrier that is intended to prevent children from
				exiting and discourages climbing. If the outdoor play area is enclosed by a
				barrier that is not a fence, the barrier may be a wall constructed with brick,
				stone, or a similar material.
(7)
				Licensed outdoor play areas must be enclosed to deter people without permission
				from entering the area.
(8) Fences,
				barriers, and gates must be in good condition, have no gap through which a
				sphere with a diameter of three and one-half inches can pass, and have a
				minimum height of forty-eight inches or conform in height to applicable local
				codes.
(9) The opening between a
				fence post and gate or fence post and building must have no gap through which a
				sphere with a diameter of three and one-half inches can pass.
(10) An early learning provider must not
				install any wooden fence, playground structure, or furniture if it contains
				chromated copper arsenate (CCA), creosote, or pentachlorophenol. If wooden
				fences, structures, and furniture are suspected of having CCA, they must be
				tested. If CCA is present, fences, structures, and furniture must be removed or
				sealed with an oil-based outdoor sealant annually or more often as needed.
(11) prior to licensing, exiting
				mechanisms on gates from a licensed outdoor play area to unlicensed space must
				be equipped with a self-closing and self-latching mechanism (shuts
				automatically when released from an individual's control). A gate that is not
				an emergency exit must be locked or self-closing and self-latching.
(12) Outdoor play areas must have two exits
				that must not be partially or entirely blocked. At least one of the two exits
				must not lead back into licensed indoor space.
Statutory Authority: RCW   43.215.070, 43.215.201 and chapter
					 42.56 RCW. WSR 18-14-079, §
											170-300-0145,
					 filed 6/30/18, effective 8/1/19.