A Creative Arts Preschool in the ❤️ of FoCo

Play-based. Nurturing. Inspired by JOY.

Now enrolling for the 2025-26 school year!

Where Play Meets Purpose

Playcrafter Kids Preschool is a licensed and insured preschool and childcare center serving children ages 2.5–6. Our low 1:8 ratio ensures every child receives individualized care, with ample time to play, explore, and build friendships. Our intentional days together blend play-based learning with music, movement, and the creative arts to support whole-child development.

Located in central Fort Collins, we’re proud to be a community-rooted, locally owned program.

We are currently enrolling for the 2025/2026 school year, scheduled from August 11, 2025 - May 22, 2026 (with closures similar to Poudre School District).
Additionally, we offer performing arts summer camps in June and July for ages 4-12.


Our regular schedule is as follows:

Monday to Thursday: 8AM to 5PM & Friday: 8AM to 4PM

A Half-Day program is available from 8AM to 12PM.

Starting in the 2025 - 26 school year, we will have three classrooms available:

  1. Storybook Forest: For children ages 2.5 - 4.5 years old (Potty-training in process)

  2. Musical Meadows: For children ages 4 - 6 years old (UPK options, extra year of Pre-K)

  3. Playful Pond: For children ages 2.5 - 5 years old (Half-Day AM only, UPK as an option)

 What sets Playcrafter Kids Preschool apart?

At Playcrafter Kids, we’re more than just a preschool — we’re a creative community for young learners and their families. While many programs focus solely on academics, our licensed, play-based preschool nurtures the whole child through the power of the arts, meaningful relationships, and purposeful play.

  • Every day includes movement, music, storytelling, and hands-on exploration designed to ignite curiosity and joy.

  • Our small class sizes ensure that every child receives personalized attention, support, and the freedom to learn at their own pace.

    Learn more about Our Team.

  • We nurture kind, confident humans. Through collaborative play, modeled empathy, emotional literacy tools, and daily mindfulness moments, children build strong foundations for healthy relationships and self-regulation.

    • Free speech and language screeners

    • Optional one-on-one care with a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist

    • Integrated Occupational Therapy with a licensed OT, seamlessly woven into the preschool day

  • Your child will explore everything from dinosaurs to kindness through multi-sensory, age-appropriate projects.

  • We host inclusive, joyful events for families all year long—like Welcome Back Night, Friendsgiving, a Winter Performance, Family Potlucks, and more!

  • We offer 4 UPK options:

    1) Full - Day 5 days (Mon- Fri)

    2) Full - Day 3 Days (Mon/Wed/Fri)

    3) Full - Day 2 Days (Tues/Thurs)

    4) Half - Day AM 5 days (Mon-Fri)

    Please see our Tuition Page for UPK pricing. Does my child qualify?

    Contact us for CCAP.

  • We offer healthy daily snacks with gluten-free and dairy-free options available.

  • Yep, optional date nights offered! We offer occasional evening care to support YOU, too.

  • Extend the magic of Playcrafter Kids into the summer with themed camps focused on imagination, movement, and fun.

  • We’re proud to be an independent program rooted in the Fort Collins community — not a franchise.

Location & Space

While we share space with a local church, we are not a religious program. The preschool operates independently and utilizes fully remodeled classrooms. Most church areas remain unused during our hours — making us grateful stewards of this vibrant, underutilized space.

Enrollment Process

  • After reviewing our website, contact us via phone or email to chat and see if we’re a good fit. If so, we’ll schedule you for a tour of our program. We are located at the Foothills Unitarian Church, 1815 Yorktown Ave., Fort Collins, CO.

  • Your spot is held with a $75 deposit. This deposit is non-refundable, though $35 does apply to your child’s first month of care.

  • We use an app called BrightWheel for all paperwork and parent communication. Once we start the account creation process, you’ll receive an email invitation to join. Each family must register for a BrightWheel account to attend.

  • We will share all required forms with you before your child’s first day. All forms must be completed and submitted to BrightWheel before enrollment is official.

What Our Families Are Saying

  • a classroom of young children dancing and celebrating with confetti

    “We LOVE Playcrafter Kids!!!!! Our kids have participated in preschool and summer camps with Deanna and are absolutely obsessed! Deanna and her staff get to know each student individually and meet each student where they are at. We love the small class sizes and play-based learning environment. My oldest has some sensory and emotional regulation difficulties and Deanna was nothing but compassionate, understanding, and supportive in meeting his needs. He is succeeding in kindergarten right now because of Deanna and Playcrafter Kids!”

    Alex C.

  • five children in the corner of a room building with large cardboard boxes

    “We are so happy with Playcrafter Kids. It is wonderful to find the right preschool for your child! There’s a great positive energy from Deanna and the other teachers. Kids learn and grow from thoughtfully planned play-based activities in a welcoming new space. My child can be very bold and outgoing…but only if she feels supported by teachers who really understand how to interact with young kids. Day one, she loved it at Playcrafters!”

    Alisa S.

  • eight children sitting on the floor in a circle

    “We absolutely love Playcrafter Kids! Each one of the teachers and the Director has taken the time to get to know our kiddo as an individual and have always met him right where he’s at. He is so, so happy at Playcrafter Kids, and we truly could not ask for anything more! We feel so lucky to be a part of this community!”

    Lindsey S.

  • four children in a circle at a table drawing with markers on paper

    “We are soooo happy we signed our 3 year old up for preschool with Playcrafter Kids. He is thriving and his days are packed with fun and he’s learned so many social/emotional skills already. We adore the teachers and they all love and know our child so well. It’s been such a gift to us this fall to have him there 3 days a week. We get photos throughout the day of him playing in the playground or in the sandbox, building an imaginary world with cardboard, riding bikes, dance parties, music time, story time... they are the whole package.”

    Heather J.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Please see our Tuition page for details.

  • Universal Preschool (UPK) is a new state funded program for 4 year olds by 10/1/25 to receive 15 free hours of preschool a week for the 2025-2026 school year.

    Only providers who electively choose UPK can offer this service to families. The state requires UPK learning hours to use an approved curriculum. Playcrafter Kids will continue to participate in Colorado’s Universal Preschool Program (UPK).

    For the 2025-2026 school year, we have 3 Full Day options for UPK:

    2 Full Days: Tuesday/Thursday

    3 Full Days: Monday/Wednesday/Friday

    5 Full Days: Monday-Friday

    (Do note the monthly tuition rates above.)

    Enroll your child before March to guarantee an available UPK spot with us. Feel free to reach out and let us know that you’re interested!

  • YES, we are a licensed large childcare center! We are mandated to follow all of the state’s requirements including the number of children. Our teachers are up to date on all required classes and our intentional spaces are child appropriate and fun.

  • At drop-off, the children are greeted and invited to play outside and/or pick an activity. At 9:30 a.m., we begin hand washing and snack time. After snack, we start our Morning Meeting with song, creative drama warm-ups, story, and conversation. We introduce new activities in the morning.

    Next it is play cycle where the children get to choose their activities. This time may also be when an enrichment teacher joins us.

    Lunch time is at 11:30 a.m. If it’s a warm day, we go outside to eat and always stay to play. The end of the AM day we continue to play and wrap it up with our open-ended journals where everyone creates a drawing and then presents to the group.

    Our Full Day friends will settle down and rest. Pick-up is between 11:45AM-12:00PM for AM friends and drop off is 1:00-1:15PM for PM friends.

    The afternoon is similar with additional ACTivities, snack and outdoor play. Pick-up is 4:30-5:00 p.m. or 3:30-4:00 p.m. on Fridays. We’re flexible in pick-up and drop-off. We just ask that you communicate with us.

  • Yes, the children get to choose from a variety of organic and/or non-GMO, low-to-no sugar snacks daily at our AM and PM snack times. Lunch is provided by the child’s family. We ask that you send cold lunches or thermos to keep food warm.

  • We use Brightwheel, a management software and app. Through this app, families can communicate with teachers, pay tuition, view daily pictures, and check their child(ren) in and out. It also allows Playcrafter Kids Preschool to be paperless.

  • Yes, we are fortunate to have Frankie, a 17 lb Westie/Jack Russell terrier mix, join us daily.

photo of wood tables, chairs and classroom cubbies

Have a question?

Send us a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.