Little Explorers Adventures

a gem for preschoolers which we feel very fortunate to have found shortly after moving to Palo Alto. Our daughter is current enrolled in LEA; i believe this is her fourth or fifth consecutive LEA session.

Our son, now 2.5 years old, has been attending the Little Explorer program for the past 18 months. He loves the social interaction and the facility at Peers Park despite small, is very adequate. He loves the arts and craft station, as well as the table outside where exercises/​games to develop their motor skills– which changes each week. Kids can play inside or out, depending on their interests. On sunny days, teacher Martinez will also take out the parachute! Play-​based and collaborative, this place is great starter place before your child is ready for a more structured/​formal school. Recommended.

This program packs a lot into a tiny indoor space at Peer’s Park. It isn’t for every child. If you’re looking for a clean, orderly program, this is not for you. The environment can be chaotic. There are upwards of 15 kids + 15 parents/​caregivers at any given time. The toys/​equipment look a little worse for wear. It is not the cleanest place (toys are often sticky/​crusty) and the field house is dusty and looks like it could use vacuuming. Children are often reaching into snack bowls with their bare hands. The sick policy is also NOT enforced. To their credit, sick policies are a sensitive topic. Damned if you enforce and damned if you don’t. There is one teacher to the 15-​ish kids and it took her more than a year to get my child’s name right. Many would say that this alone is inexcusable.
I overlooked much of this because as I said, this is a rich program that packs a lot in and much to «explore». You can tell there is a lot of thought into the themes and toys put out weekly. The field trips, especially in the winter and spring were fantastic. A child at ~2 yrs old probably benefits most from the program. Any younger and it can be overwhelming and closer to 3 yrs old, they age out. I sense that the teacher recognizes that things could use a spring cleaning or freshening so perhaps that will change over time. The substitute teachers have all been fantastic.
In summary, this would not have been my first choice for a pre-​preschool program because of the chaos and cleanliness issues, but on some level I feel like a little bit of chaos and crusty toys are healthy (assuming your kid isn’t shoving everything into his mouth). We can’t live in a bubble after all… But do scrub your/​kids’ hands after class.

Luane’s Little Explorers is a unique preschool that has sessions year round. Registration is done through the city of Palo Alto and it is open to residents and non-​residents. It meets twice a week, once in a building that opens to Peers Park, and once for a little adventure outing.
Both Luane and Martina are wonderful with the kids. They come up with creative arts and craft projects that tie in with each particular outing. A parent/​caretaker needs to be present.
I take my son (who is almost 3) and he loves it. It’s also a bonus that you can bring a younger sibling up to 18 months — I also bring my 17 month old. I’ve developed a new sense of confidence in taking my two toddlers out somewhere new each week!