✅ Classroom checklists
The daily safety sweep
Opening and closing walk-throughs — five minutes each — that catch the hazard before the licensing visitor (or the toddler) does.
Opening sweep (before the first child)
- Floor scan at knee height: choking-size objects, spills, splinters, anything that arrived overnight.
- Exits clear, gates latched, outlet covers in, cords out of reach.
- Cleaning products and medications locked; sign-out sheet by the med box.
- Playground: sweep for glass/debris, check equipment for new cracks or gaps, touch metal slides on hot days.
- Attendance clipboard and emergency contacts where any adult can grab them one-handed.
All day, every transition
- Count. Say the number out loud to another adult. Count again at the destination. Name-to-face, not just heads.
- Zone the room: every adult owns a zone and says the handoff out loud ('I've got the slide side').
Closing sweep
- Every child released only to an authorized adult — check the list, even on Fridays, even when you're sure.
- Final room + playground + bathroom + cot-room walk-through AFTER the last child leaves. Look inside, under, behind.
- Log anything you fixed or couldn't fix; hand the can't-fix list to the director in writing.
Rehearse this skill
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