Creating Affirming Environments

     If I were to open my own Family Child Care Home, it would be important to make sure all children felt welcome as well as their families.  One way that I would do this would be in the decoration of the facilities.  I would make sure that different cultures were represented even if those cultures were not represented in the children that attended the facility.
     I would make sure the families and the children were comfortable by having the different areas designated for different activities just as Adriana did in her child care home.  I would make sure that the room for napping depicted images that made the children feel at ease.  One example of pictures that I would like to use in a facility like this would be images of animals because children relate to animals.  I would make sure that the room was painted a color that encouraged calm emotions such as a pale blue. 
     I would make sure that the toys and dress up items in the facility appealed to children of all cultures and genders.  I would have boy dolls as well as girl dolls, traditional dress of different cultures, and toys that can be found in the homes of the children as well.  I would have books that depict the families from which children come- single parent homes, traditional family homes, homes with extended family members present and non-traditional families.