ABSTRACT
The quality of the environment in the infant-toddler centres and preschools is an important value of the Reggio Approach. It plays an active role in how children play and learn. The environment includes the building itself, how the rooms are organised, what they look like and what resources and equipment they have in them. The two teachers working with each class or group think that the environment is so important that they call it ‘the third teacher’. This expression recognises that the environment is such a high priority that organising it well is the equivalent of having a third teacher in the room.
