Daycare incident report form.
A one-page incident and accident report that captures the facts, the care you provided, and proof the parent was told — with signature lines for staff, director, and parent.
The whole story on one page.
Write it the same day, stick to the facts.
An incident report does two jobs: it tells the parent exactly what happened to their child, and it protects you if the question ever comes up again — weeks or months later, when memories have faded. Both jobs depend on the same habit: fill it out the same day, while details are fresh.
- Describe, don't diagnose. "Fell from the second step of the climber and scraped his left knee" beats "hurt himself being reckless." Facts age well; opinions don't.
- Always get the parent's signature — not because you expect trouble, but because "acknowledged the same day" is the difference between a record and a dispute.
- Give a copy, keep a copy. One goes home, one goes in the child's file. Many states require incident records to be kept for a set number of years — check your licensing rules.
- Watch for patterns. If the same corner of the playground shows up three times, that's not paperwork — that's a fix waiting to happen. The follow-up section exists for exactly this.
- Know your state's reporting line. Serious injuries (anything needing medical treatment) usually must also be reported to licensing within a deadline. This form documents; it doesn't replace that call.
Incidents happen. Paper trails shouldn't be the hard part.
Wylari logs incidents digitally — written once, delivered to the parent instantly with acknowledgment tracked, and stored forever in the child's record. No copier required.
Start your free trial Join the beta — freeMore free templates: sign-in / sign-out sheet, daily report (toddler & preschool), infant daily report, or see how Wylari tracks attendance.