NYC 3-K Explorations: a free curriculum for 3-year-olds

NYC 3-K Explorations at a glance

Checked October 28, 2026 on the owner's site.

What it is and who made it

New York City extended free early education to 3-year-olds with 3-K for All, and the Explorations are the shared curriculum for those programs. Instead of ten short units, there are three long ones; longer topics may suit 3-year-olds, who often need more time and repetition with each idea. Exploration One starts with routines and the classroom, and later Explorations move toward broader ideas.

Each Exploration is a long PDF (the first is 100 pages) with ideas for learning centers, book lists, questions for read-alouds, a blank weekly planning template, and appendices on daily routines.

Units and length

1. Exploration One: Our Community — start of the year
2. Exploration Two — middle of the year
3. Exploration Three: Our Impact — end of the year

What's inside

Instructional guidance for 3 Explorations over a 10-month year: center ideas, book lists, read-aloud questions, and a blank weekly planning template.

Areas of learning covered:

• Organized around the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (all preschool domains)

How a parent could use it at home

• Read the introduction and the snapshot section of Exploration One first; they explain how the year is meant to flow.
• Use the blank weekly planning template for your own week: one book, one hands-on activity, one outing.
• Daily routines can be learning time at three. Washing hands, setting the table, and getting dressed involve many of the skills in the framework.
• Choose two or three center ideas and leave them out for a week rather than setting up new ones every day.
• If your child turns 4 during the year, look at the NYC pre-K units for the following year.

These tips are ours, not the program's.

The license in plain words

The Explorations state that they "may be used for educational, nonprofit purposes only." If you are not a 3-K for All provider, the department asks you to email [email protected] to request permission.

What is 3-K in New York City?

3-K for All is New York City's free early education program for 3-year-olds. The Explorations are the curriculum that the city's Department of Education wrote for those classrooms and published on its InfoHub site. They may be used for educational, nonprofit purposes only; anyone who isn't a 3-K for All provider is asked to email the department for permission.

Is 3-K Explorations play-based?

Yes, the Explorations describe themselves as play-based. They're built around learning centers, books, read-aloud conversations, and daily routines. Each Exploration gives ideas, book lists, and a blank weekly planning template rather than a fixed daily script, so the adult chooses what to do each week from the options it offers.

Similar free programs

• Focus on Pre-K: 3s · 3-year-olds · 5 units of 34–41 school days (about 177 days, 2026–27 calendar)
• NYC Pre-K for All Interdisciplinary Units of Study · 4-year-olds · 10 units over a school year (Unit 1 runs four weeks)
• Let's Play! Family Child Care Curriculum — official page · mixed ages · 10 months

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