How I Turned Our “Old Notice Board” Site into a Parent-Friendly Home

When I took over the website for our kindergarten, it felt more like a digital notice board from 2014 than a place where parents could actually feel what our school is like.

Random PDFs, outdated photos, tiny fonts on mobile… every time a parent said “I couldn’t find the calendar on the website,” I felt that little sting of guilt as the admin.

That’s when I decided to stop patching the old theme and rebuild the site properly using Toddly - Kids & Kindergarten WordPress Theme. I wanted something colorful and friendly for families, but still structured enough that I could maintain it without losing my mind.

Below is exactly how I set it up, what I like (and don’t), and when I think it’s a good fit.

Installing Toddly: From Blank WordPress to Playful Layout

I started on a staging site so I didn’t break the existing one while parents were still using it.

1. Base Setup

On the staging WordPress:

• Updated WordPress and plugins
• Removed old theme-specific builders we didn’t plan to keep
• Went to Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme
• Uploaded and activated Toddly

On activation, Toddly suggested some required plugins (a core plugin, page builder support, etc.). I installed:

• All required plugins
• Only optional extras I knew we’d use (no need to overload the site)

2. Demo Import

The magic happened when I imported the toddler/kindergarten demo:

• A cheerful homepage with big sections for programs, activities, and testimonials
• Dedicated pages for Classes, About, Teachers, Admissions, Blog, Contact
• Predefined color palette and typography tuned for a kids brand

For the first time, the site felt like it belonged to a kindergarten, not a generic office.

Configuring Toddly for Our Kindergarten Brand

The next job was to make Toddly look like our school, not the demo school.

Colors & Visual Style

Inside the theme options/customizer:

• I set our primary color (from our logo) as the main accent
• Chose a couple of soft pastel shades as background colors for different sections
• Kept headings in a slightly darker tone for readability

Toddly then applied these throughout:

• Buttons (“Enroll Now”, “Book a Visit”)
• Icons and section dividers
• Hover states and callouts

It stayed playful without going neon or overwhelming.

Typography

Parents read a lot on our site: daily schedules, menus, policies, announcements.

I configured:

• A rounded, friendly font for headings
• A clean, simple font for paragraphs
• A comfortable font size for mobile (bigger than the default old theme)

Toddly respects these global settings, so:

• Class pages
• Blog posts
• Teacher bios

…all share the same clean, readable style.

Menu & Navigation

I rebuilt the main menu to mirror how parents think:

• Home
• About
• Classes
• Admissions
• Parents’ Info (calendar, menus, downloads)
• Blog / News
• Contact / Visit Us

Toddly’s header options let me:

• Keep the logo visible without shrinking it too much
• Add a bright “Apply Now” or “Book a Tour” button in the header
• Enable a sticky header so navigation follows as parents scroll

On mobile, the layout collapses nicely into a big, easy-tap menu—perfect for one-handed browsing while holding a toddler.