A Day in the Life
of Our Youngest Learners
For our 1- and 2-year-olds, each day is a balance of familiar rhythms and new discoveries—filled with movement, sensory exploration, relationships, and opportunities to wonder.
Consistent Rhythms.
Open-Ended Possibilities.
At First Presbyterian, early childhood education is rooted in child-led inquiry, hands-on exploration, and viewing the environment as a vital "third teacher."
For toddlers, the day provides the comfort of consistent routines while leaving room for children to investigate, move, create, communicate, and follow their own curiosity.
Classroom / toddler exploration
The Rhythm of Our Morning
A predictable rhythm helps young children feel secure, while the experiences within that rhythm remain responsive to their questions, interests, and discoveries.
Follow a Morning at First Pres
Times provide a rhythm for the day, but the children's exploration is never reduced to a checklist.
Arrival & Morning Provocations
Children arrive, store their personal items in cubbies, and transition into the classroom.
Teachers prepare intentional provocations—inviting setups featuring natural items, loose parts, or open-ended materials that encourage toddlers to investigate textures, shapes, and spatial relationships as soon as they walk in.
Arrival / cubbies / morning provocation
Morning meeting / gathering
Morning Meeting & Community Building
The class gathers on the rug for a brief, energetic whole-group gathering.
Toddlers build early social-emotional and communication skills through greeting songs, simple weather or calendar observations, fingerplays, and interactive storybooks.
Snack & Social Skills
Children wash their hands and gather for a shared snack.
Snack provides another opportunity for children to slow down, connect with one another, and participate in the familiar rhythms of their classroom community.
Shared snack / community
Children engaged in exploration
Emergent Exploration & Studio Time
The core block of the morning focuses on child-initiated project work and center exploration.
Children are invited to investigate materials, follow their interests, repeat experiences, and discover what happens when they try something new.
Process Art & Light Play
Toddlers experiment with watercolors, clay, oil pastels, or light tables, focusing on the sensory experience of creation rather than a predetermined finished product.
Art / clay / watercolor / light play
Blocks / sensory materials / construction
Sensory & Construction
Clay work, water and sand tables, and building with wooden blocks allow toddlers to test physical properties like gravity, weight, and volume.
Through repetition and experimentation, children discover that their actions can change the materials around them.
Early Literacy & Phonemic Awareness
Interactive story corners and tactile letter explorations offer gentle, age-appropriate foundations for language.
Language and literacy become part of children's everyday exploration rather than a separate task.
Books / language / tactile letters
Outdoor classroom / nature exploration
Outdoor Classroom & Nature Exploration
Toddlers head outside to engage their gross motor skills and explore the natural environment.
Their experiences include navigating natural play spaces, observing plants and insects, running, climbing, and gathering outdoor treasures such as leaves, twigs, and rocks for future classroom investigations.
Lunch & Community
Children wash their hands and gather for lunch.
The shared meal continues the rhythm of the day, giving children another opportunity to experience connection and community.
Lunch / children gathered together
The Environment Is Part of the Learning
In our early childhood classrooms, the environment is intentionally designed to invite exploration, connection, and discovery.
“The environment is a vital third teacher.”
Natural materials, open-ended resources, sensory experiences, and spaces for movement give young children opportunities to explore with their whole bodies and all of their senses.
Rest, Quiet Stories & Afternoon Exploration
Morning-only sessions conclude with a closing reflection, song, and pick-up.
Children staying for full-day programs wind down with quiet read-alouds, soft lighting, rest or nap periods, and afternoon outdoor movement.
The rhythm of the day changes with the children's needs: active exploration gives way to quieter moments of rest, reconnection, and renewal.
Quiet reading / rest / afternoon experience
A Day Full of Little Discoveries
For a toddler, a day at First Pres isn't about rushing from one activity to the next. It is about having the time, space, materials, relationships, and freedom to wonder: What happens if I try this?
Want to See a Day Like This for Yourself?
The best way to understand our classrooms is to step inside. Come meet our teachers, explore our environment, and bring your child along for the experience.
Schedule a Tour