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It’s at the nursery and pre-school age that children start to become self-sufficient by going to the toilet and washing their hands, a skill every parent and care provider relishes. It’s a stage that signifies no more changing messy nappies and is an important step towards a child's independence. Creating a washroom environment that is inviting and exciting for little ones, an area they will want to go to and enjoy being in, is of the utmost importance. In this guide, we will look at some of the key features you need to bear in mind when undertaking the refurbishment of nursery and pre-school washrooms, and take a look at some ways in which to help engage the minds of our tiny users.
Little People Need Little Loos
Installing facilities that enable children to visit the washroom without assistance increases confidence in children. Low toilets help with this immensely as children no longer need steps, or special toilet seat adaptors like they may at home. Of course, these small toilets should be housed in scaled down toilet cubicles. This not only fits everything to scale, but with the lower height of the doors, this enables care providers to be able to look over the top and check on children in the early stages of toilet sufficiency.
Low set vanity units with sunken, or countertop washbasins are also a novelty for children at nursery, again, bringing everything down to their level. The ability to go and wash their own hands without having to be picked up or stood on steps is liberating and another way to increase a child's interest in visiting the washroom.
Alternatively, wash troughs can be installed at a lower height and can prove popular in getting little ones to make sure they wash their hands regularly. Kids are able to wash their hands alongside each other and watch the water flow along, down to the plug hole at the far end of the trough. This can be exciting for them as they are unlikely to experience this at home.
Getting Hygiene Right
Kids are notoriously magnets for every cold and stomach upset going, and when they are all playing within close proximity of one another, this problem is only amplified. Hygiene in the nursery and pre-school washroom needs to be tackled in two ways; facility hygiene and infant personal hygiene.
With a busy centre to run, you will most likely want to have an easy clean washroom. Wall panel systems are very advantageous in this respect, as they keep pipework hidden out of sight and leave smooth flat surfaces that can be sanitised and wiped down quickly and easily. Back to wall toilets also cut down on exposed surface area, enabling that same easy sanitation.
Sensor taps are a great investment too, as grubby little hands never need to touch the tap. This not only helps improve hygiene, but saves unnecessary clean-up after activities like finger painting or making mud pies. This leads into infant personal hygiene, which is mainly focussed on the regular washing of their hands. The habit of washing their hands is one that needs to be instilled in these tender early years. Particularly when they are exploring their environment so intensely. Little hands will rummage through everything in the garden, not to mention wiping runny noses on the back of their hands. The trick, is to get them engaged with the washroom environment
Getting Them Engaged
Bright colours, pictures, funny faces. They all help to create that inviting, fun washroom environment. The Children’s Kindergarten Sensor Tap is a perfect example of how small features can make a difference. Not only is it colourful, but it has a face on it and the water spouts down from the end of his yellow nose. Similarly, the Biodrier Biobot Children’s Hand Dryer also has a quirky face on the front of it. These simple, but playful touches are very effective and, in some nurseries, care providers have taken to naming the taps and dryers that have faces on, which helps to encourage children to ‘visit’ them after messy play or going to the toilet. Children ‘visit Tom The Tap or Dave The Dryer.’
The engagement can also be increased with things like different coloured cubicle doors. Children will often choose to go to the cubicle or washbasin that is their favourite colour, or the one that’s the same colour as the jumper they are wearing today. It’s simple interactions like these that make the experience of going to the washroom a fun one and encourages children to take charge of their personal hygiene.
Controlling Water Temperature
As with all commercial washrooms, hot water temperature needs to be controlled so that users cannot accidentally scald themselves. This is obviously even more important in nursery and pre-school washrooms. Thermostatic mixer valves are a simple and effective option that allow you to regulate the flow of both hot and cold water into one stream of warm water. Some sensor taps come with this integral to the design, others do not and you’ll need to ensure one is installed before the tap.
There Will Still Be Nappies...
With most nurseries taking children on from the age of six months, and sometimes as young as three months old, you're naturally going to need an adequate baby changing facilities in your washroom too. As this is a nursery and use is going to be very frequent on a day to day basis, the ideal option is to go for a solid surface baby changing station. This can also be incorporated with a waste chute and hidden disposal bin.
Nursery and pre-school washrooms are one of the most exciting areas of Primary School Toilet Refurbishments, which is why we carry such a diverse range of child-specific washroom fixtures and fittings. If you have a nursery or pre-school washroom refurbishment project coming up and would like to talk, drop us a line and get in touch.
