This paper reviews four scales that have been used to evaluate the physical environment of child care centers, and introduces five new scales that are designed explicitly to assess the physical environment of child care centers and their associated outdoor play environments. The psychometric properties, environmental content, and effectiveness of the Harms and Clifford Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale, the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory, the Profile for Early Childhood Programs, and the Purdue Home Stimulation Inventory are discussed. The paper then discusses five sets of scales that have been developed to address the deficiencies of current physical environment scales: (1) the Early Childhood Center, Children, and Teacher Profiles; (2) the Early Childhood Teacher Style and Dimensions of Educating Rating Scales; (3) the Early Childhood Physical Environment Scales; (4) the Playground and Neighborhood Observation Behavior Maps; and (5) the Environment/Behavior Observation Schedule for Early Childhood Environments. In conclusion, the paper suggests the principle components for the development of a new, more comprehensive set of environmentally based scales for early childhood environments. (Contains 22 references.) (MDM)