Daycare Daily Report Template: Editable Copy and Writing Guide
- Use a short template with factual observations and a clear next step.
- Check the child, date, recipient and privacy before sharing.
- Keep urgent or specialist records in the program’s appropriate process.
A daycare daily report gives a family a short, factual picture of their child's day. It should be easy to scan, relevant to the child and checked before sharing. Use the editable template below as a starting point, then adapt its fields to your program's actual reporting practice.
Download the editable daily report template.
The separate text download contains the blank template and can be opened in a text editor or copied into a document. Use only the fields your program needs and keep completed reports in your approved private system.
Blank daily report template
DAILY REPORT
Child: [name or approved identifier]
Date: [date]
Classroom / staff author: [approved field]
Meals and snacks: [what was offered and what was observed]
Rest: [actual rest or sleep information, if tracked]
Care routine: [relevant factual entry, if tracked]
Activity or moment: [one specific observation]
Child's words or choices: [optional, accurately recorded]
Items to bring / next step: [specific request, or none]
Question or note for the family: [optional]
Checked by: [staff member]
Checked for: correct child, date, facts, recipient and next step
Do not include another child's name or private information. If your program uses separate records for medication, injury, illness or safeguarding concerns, follow those processes rather than treating a daily report as their replacement.
A completed fictional example
The following example is invented to demonstrate writing style. It does not describe a real child or classroom.
DAILY REPORT
Child: Example Child A
Date: Example Tuesday
Classroom / staff author: Example preschool room / Staff A
Meals and snacks: At snack, ate apple slices and part of the toast offered.
Rest: Rested on the mat from 1:10 to 1:35 p.m.; remained awake.
Care routine: No additional routine note in this example.
Activity or moment: Placed five blocks in a row and counted them with me.
Child's words or choices: Asked to use the blue blocks for another row.
Items to bring / next step: Please send the labeled spare shirt tomorrow.
Question or note for the family: Is there a counting game your child enjoys at home?
Checked by: Staff A
Checked for: correct child, date, facts, recipient and next step
“Rested” and “slept” are different observations. “Counted the blocks with me” also means something different from “can count independently.” Describe what happened without converting one moment into a developmental assessment.
Write observations that families can understand
Prefer a concrete action to a broad rating. “Asked to try again after the tower fell” tells a family more than “was good today.” Record concerns factually too; a report should not require staff to make every day sound positive.
Keep food and rest entries consistent with what staff actually observed. If a detail was not recorded, do not invent it to fill the template. Use the program's process for correcting an entry when an error is found.
The NAEYC family-engagement principles emphasize ongoing, two-way communication that reflects families' language preferences. Give families a clear way to ask a question or share relevant information. A one-way report is only one part of that relationship.
Review before sharing
Check the child, date and intended recipient first. Then read for factual accuracy, other children's private information and any promised follow-up. Confirm that an urgent matter has gone through the appropriate direct-contact process; do not assume the family will immediately read a routine report.
If staff use a drafting tool, compare its wording with the source observations and correct unsupported interpretations. The person sharing the report remains responsible for checking it.
Fit the report into the day
Choose which observations staff should record at the time and when the report will be reviewed. Avoid a template so long that staff must reconstruct the entire day from memory. Practice the workflow with a fictional child before using it with family records.
For a new family-facing system, use the parent app rollout checklist to test invitations and support. The staff training checklist includes a report-review exercise. For preschool communication examples, see the preschool daily reports guide.
Bloomily's learning overview describes daily reports prepared from recorded information, reviewed and then shared. During a demo, check that the available fields and review process fit your program; the template here is an independent writing aid, not a screenshot of the product.