There are so many ways of setting up an Atrium but the general principles include:
- The four "pride of place" materials: The Model Altar, The Baptism Area, The Prayer Table, and The Good Shepherd. These are the "four corners" of the space although it is often preferred for the Good Shepherd material to be the first area seen upon walking into the Atrium. Additional "stations" include The Gestures Altar, The Cenacle, The City of Jerusalem and, if it is large, The Raised Surface Map of Israel." If you have hand washing and flower arranging in your EPL section these would also be at stations.
- The "sides" of the Atrium follow themes the of Liturgy and Scripture.
- Each theme/subject is gathered on a shelf with the materials being placed left to right, top to bottom, with the youngest child's work in the top left and the oldest child's work in the bottom right. If the top of the shelf is too high for the 3yo, however, you might begin on the second shelf with the work of the child, saving the top for religious artwork, polishing items placed beautifully, or crosses and crucifixes for the youngest of children to gather, sort, and return.
- Materials should all be easily accessible, oriented in such a way that they are easily removed from the shelf. This includes trays being turned so that the child can grasp the handles easily. Not stacking materials and leaving room between trays also facilitates this!
- All paperwork is gathered in one place. This shelf holds all "consumables" in order to keep the child's focus on the actual catechetical materials throughout the rest of the Atrium. When you walk into an Atrium environment you should see materials not paper.
- Scripture booklets should also be gathered either into one basket or into a basket on each shelf containing the booklets for that shelf. For the younger child this decreases their dependency on the adult to read to them and for the older child this increases their work in knowing the "title" of the work in order to find the Scripture booklet which corresponds with the material.
- There should be table surface space (tables or chowkis) for 2/3 to 3/4 of the children in the space. These are ideally set against a shelf or wall, creating spaces of individual work in L1 while in L2/3 you might create a few spaces for two children. There should be working mats for 1/2 of the children.
- Beautiful pieces of religious artwork of many styles should be found in the Atrium, hung or placed at the height of the child. This artwork should fit the themes of the Atrium: The Geography of the Land of Israel, The Infancy Narratives, The Good Shepherd, Jesus and the Children, The Last Supper, Baptism, and The Eucharist. Consider placing a piece of art above each individual table or chowki to assist in creating a meditative space for that child.