There's a daycare in downtown Kingston where kids show up to school in rain boots in October, snow pants in February, and bug spray in May. At Livingston Street Early Childhood Community, the classroom doesn't have four walls and a roof. It has the whole neighborhood.

Located at 20 Livingston Street — just steps from the Rondout Creek — this New York State-licensed program serves children ages 3 to 5 and runs Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. But what makes it stand out isn't the location or the hours. It's what happens during them.

What Makes It Different

Livingston Street isn't a daycare with a playground out back. It's a daycare with the outdoors as its primary classroom. On average, children and staff spend about five hours a day outside — in every season, in every kind of weather. They only head indoors for nap time and extreme weather emergencies.

The program's outdoor classrooms are scattered throughout downtown Kingston: parks, green spaces, creek banks, and sidewalks. Kids climb trees, get muddy, navigate each other, take risks, and build the kind of resilience you can't schedule on a whiteboard. The approach is grounded in the belief that fantasy play, physical risk, and genuine emotional expression aren't distractions from learning — they *are* the learning, at least at this age.

The Philosophy Behind It

The program draws from multiple traditions in early childhood education but lands firmly on a child-centered, play-based, experiential model. As their philosophy page puts it, citing developmental researcher Joseph Chilton Pierce: "Fantasy play and magical thinking cannot be errors of nature or examples of faulty child logic needing adult correction."

Translation: kids are allowed to be kids — loudly, messily, and at their own pace — while trained caregivers help them build the social and emotional foundation everything else rests on. Communication, relationships, compassion, community. The academics show up naturally through play rather than through flashcards.

Community and Diversity

Livingston Street's mission explicitly names diversity — not as a checkbox but as an operating principle. Their stated goals include embracing the diversity of the broader community, promoting community involvement, and building "relationships of compassion, trust, and respect" among children, families, and staff. They also offer financial support to families who need it, because their enrollment page acknowledges that access matters.

The Details

- Location: 20 Livingston Street, Kingston, NY 12401
- Phone: (845) 340-9900
- Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–3:00 PM
- Ages served: 3–5 years old
- Website: livingstonstreet.org
- Enrollment: Open — they recommend reaching out directly to schedule a visit

Why This Matters for Kingston Families

Choosing a daycare is one of the most anxiety-producing decisions a parent makes. Most families are weighing safety, structure, and school-readiness. Livingston Street is making a different argument — one backed by a growing body of research on outdoor education — that the best foundation for a young child isn't a curriculum. It's five hours a day of fresh air, real risk, genuine play, and caregivers who take the time to build a relationship with each child.

It's not for every family. It requires parents who are comfortable with muddy knees in April and windburn in January. But for Kingston families who want their kids to start school having learned how to be in the world — not just in a classroom — it might be exactly what they're looking for.