NAMING YOUR CHILD CARE HOME OR CENTER

DO...

Choose a name that reflects the kind of care you plan to provide

The name you choose should tell people something about your philosophy of child care.  The child care center named "Springfield Lake Preschool" is going to be perceived differently by  prospective parents than one named  "Springfield Lake Child Care."  If you plan to provide care that is more academic or geared toward preparing a child for school, you may want to have the word academy or preschool in it.  However, if your goal is provide care that does not include a special focus on academics, you may want to have child care or daydare in the name.  Avoid an attempt to appeal to more parents by combining several terms in a name like "Vermont Child Care and Preschool Learning Station."  This strategy ends up making your name long, difficult to remember, and downright confusing.

Choose a name that is easy to spell and say

You may think it is cute to spell "Kids" K-I-D-Z, but you will save yourself a lot of trouble by spelling words correctly in your child care home/center's name.  You will avoid having to spell out the name of your child care home/center every time you say it.  Also, remember to put apostrophes in the right place.  For example "Kimmie's Angels" is correct, but "Kimmie's Angel's" is incorrect.

Choose a name that includes LLC or INC if applicable

If your child care home/center is a Limited Liability Company, Corporation, or some other type of special legal structure, make sure this is denoted in its name.

DON'T

Choose a name that is overused or is similar to that of another child care center/home in your area

Names such as "ABC Child Care," "123  Preschool,"  or  "Little Tykes," are common and overused. 

Choose a name that is age group specific unless your care is targeted to that one age.

If you choose a name that has "baby or infant" in it, you should only be providing infant care.  A five year old child will not likely want to attend a center called "Baby Time."  Furthermore,  parents may not even consider your center when looking for care for their pre-school aged child.

*Below is a list of ideas to get you started.  Mix and match words from the below columns to get the perfect name.

School type

• Preschool

• Daycare

• Child Care

• Academy

• Center

• Home

• School

• Program

• Nursery School

• YMCA (if applicable)

• Head Start (if applicable)

• Montessori

Age Group

• Infant

• Baby

• Toddler

• Preschool

• School Age

Location

• State Name

• City Name

• Street Name

Other Names For Children

• Kids/Kiddos/Kiddies

• Babies/Babes

• Infants

• Munchkins

• Chicks

• Tykes/Tikes

• Angels

• Darlings

• Cherubs

• Tots

• Sprouts

• Squirts

• Lambs

• Cubs

• Dolls

Adjectives to Describe Children

• Sweet

• Stars

• Precious

• Little/Li'l/Wee

• Tiny

• Innocent

• Happy/Joyful

• Creative

Phrases for Church/Christian Based Center or Home

• Christian

• Church Type (Lutheran, Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, etc.)

• King's Kids

• Loving/Caring Arms, Heart, etc.

• Prince of Peace

• Holy Spirit

• Lighthouse

• Tender/Happy/Joyful Hearts

Name/Status of Owner

• (These are the female versions, but the male versions work just as well)
• Aunt's/Auntie's/Aunty's
• Grannie's/Nana's/Grandma's
• Mother's/Mom's/Mommy's
• Kristi's Child Care (example: fill in  your own name)