Childcare structures dedicated to early childhood are multiplying in France, driven by a growing parental demand and a tightening regulatory framework. The childhood concept, centered on activities designed for children’s development, fits into this movement. But behind the label, what do these programs actually entail, and on what foundations do they rest?
Screens in daycare and early childhood: a regulatory framework that changes the game
The landscape of young child care has undergone a recent regulatory turning point. Since January 2025, the health record explicitly states that screen exposure is not recommended before the age of 3, including as background noise. This is the first time an official document given to all families at birth formalizes this guideline.
Since July 2025, this recommendation has become a requirement in daycare centers and with childminders, through an order modifying the National Charter for Young Child Care. Screens must be avoided in collective care settings for children under 3 years old.
This tightening has a direct effect on how structures design their activity programs. Without screens, something else must be offered: manipulation, sensory play, free exploration. Approaches that align with the childhood concept and its activities, where the emphasis is on awakening through the body and concrete discovery rather than through a digital medium.
Awakening activities and child development: what current guidelines say
The guidelines for screen use by age group, harmonized by French health authorities between 2024 and 2025, outline what a child’s daily life should look like:
- Under 2 years: zero screens, which implies an environment entirely based on human interaction, free play, and motor skills
- Between 2 and 5 years: a limit of one hour of accompanied screen time per day, with the rest of the time dedicated to physical, creative, or sensory learning activities
- From 6 to 9 years: one hour of leisure screens, with an increasing need for collective games, reading, and hands-on projects
These guidelines are not mere suggestions. They reflect a convergence between research in child development and public policy. For childcare structures, this means that each time slot must be designed around tangible activities.
The child’s development then relies on a variety of stimuli: manipulation of objects, water play, motor courses, musical activities. The childhood concept incorporates this logic by structuring its programs around awakening cycles tailored to each age.
Micro-crèches and reception spaces: the constraints that shape activities
A well-designed reception space is not just a room with toys. The physical environment conditions the quality of learning: a quiet corner for reading, a motor skills area, a space for symbolic play. Every square meter has an educational function.
Layout as a pedagogical lever
Approaches inspired by Montessori pedagogy, widely adopted by structures dedicated to childhood, emphasize one principle: the child must be able to access the activities that interest them independently. This requires furniture at their height, games stored visibly, and a stripped-down environment to avoid sensory overload.
This demand for autonomy in space aligns with a broader concern of parents: allowing the child to develop self-confidence through direct experimentation. When a 2-year-old independently chooses a puzzle from a low shelf, the action may seem trivial. Yet it engages decision-making, motor coordination, and concentration.
Childcare in France: a tension between supply and demand
The supply of childcare places in France remains under strong pressure, highlighting the urgency of structuring responses that meet families’ needs beyond traditional childcare methods.
Projects based on the childhood concept attempt to address this tension by offering hybrid formats: regular care, occasional workshops, extracurricular activities. The idea is to cover time slots that neither schools nor traditional daycare handle, while maintaining educational standards.
Parental education and activity support
Parents are not absent from this equation. Child development relies on continuity between what the child experiences in a care structure and what they find at home. The most coherent activity programs integrate recommendations for families: types of games to prioritize, activity duration suitable for age, management of screen time at home.
Field feedback varies on the effectiveness of these family-structure bridges. Some families embrace the tools provided, while others struggle to translate them into a daily routine constrained by time and fatigue. The question of parental support remains an open issue, which available data does not allow to resolve definitively.
The French regulatory framework around early childhood is becoming clearer, the guidelines on screens are tightening, and the supply of care remains under strain. In this context, structures that articulate awakening activities, space layout, and family connections meet a concrete need. The challenge remains to maintain this standard on a large scale, as the number of available places decreases.
