Free templateFamily Engagement

Monthly Class Update Template

An editable one-page Canva design for a monthly update to parents from your classroom: a title and date, one large photo, a highlights blurb, four small photos and two caption blocks. The download is a one-page sheet with the link to the Canva design and instructions for editing and downloading it.

Format: Editable Canva template (link sheet PDF)
Pages: 1 (link sheet)
Best for: Educators · room leads · directors
Updated: Oct 2026

Download free template See what’s inside

No sign-up required. Print it and share it with your team — it’s free for any child care program to use.

Preview of the Monthly Class Update Template

What’s inside

A one-page class update with room for photos, highlights and captions

Template link sheetThe PDF you download: a “Template Link” button that opens the monthly class update in Canva, plus instructions for customizing and downloading it.
Title and dateA heading with the month and year underneath, which you change for each update.
Main photo and highlights blurbOne large classroom photo above a coloured box for the past month’s highlights: activities the class did, what the children learned and any celebrations.
Four small photos with two caption blocksA row of four image placeholders you replace with your own pictures, and two text blocks beneath them to describe what is happening in the photos.
Download FileHow to save the finished update: click Share in the top right corner, then Download, and choose a format. JPG or PDF Standard are recommended.

How to use it

Four steps to put it to work this week

1
Download the link sheetOpen the PDF and click the template link to open the monthly class update in Canva.
2
Add your photosClick the Uploads tab, select Upload files, then drag your images into the image placards.
3
Edit the text and dateReplace the wording with your own descriptions of the month and change the date at the top of the update.
4
Download and shareClick Share, then Download, and choose JPG or PDF Standard. Email it to families, post it in your parent app or print a copy for the room door.

Tips from operators

What centers that use this well do differently

Learned the hard way across 3,000 child care spaces — and from the directors and educators who join our Lunch & Learns and Learning Labs.

Check photo consent first

Only use pictures of children whose families have agreed to photos being shared with the group.

Pick a fixed day

Send the update on the same day each month — the last Friday, for example — so families know when to expect it.

Collect photos as you go

Save a few pictures each week in a shared folder. Building the update at month end then takes minutes instead of an evening.

Do it digitally in ChildFriendly Pro

Reach every family in the app — with read receipts

Daily journals, announcements, newsletters and two-way messaging live in the ChildFriendly family app, translated into 198+ languages and delivered with read receipts so you know who saw what.