Best Inkjet Printers for Daycares and Preschool Centers

Daycares and preschools print constantly: daily activity sheets, name tags, sign-in forms, parent newsletters, and coloring pages, often on a tight nonprofit or small-business budget. This guide covers five printers between $60 and $220, chosen for low cost per page under heavy daily use, easy operation by staff who aren’t tech specialists, and enough paper capacity to avoid constant refilling during a busy morning drop-off.

Cost per page matters more for a daycare than print quality, since most printing is black-and-white worksheets and forms rather than photo-quality output, so prioritize ink-tank or high-yield cartridge models over cheap printers with expensive replacement ink.

1. Epson EcoTank ET-2850 — best for lowest cost per page

The EcoTank line refills from ink bottles instead of cartridges, which cuts cost per page dramatically for a center printing dozens of worksheets and forms daily. The upfront cost is higher than a basic inkjet, but centers printing more than a few hundred pages a month earn that back within months. Street price runs $180-$220.

• Why it’s a good buy: the lowest long-term cost per page of any printer on this list, which matters most for high daily print volume
• Where to buy: Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart

2. Canon PIXMA TS3520 — best budget entry-level option

For a smaller in-home daycare or a preschool room with a modest print budget, the TS3520 covers the basics of forms and worksheets at one of the lowest upfront prices available, with simple one-button operation that doesn’t require training for staff. Ink costs more per page than an ink-tank model, so it suits lower-volume printing. Street price runs $60-$80.

• Why it’s a good buy: the lowest upfront cost for centers that print occasionally rather than constantly
• Where to buy: Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart

3. HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e — best for combined printing and scanning of forms

Daycares handle a steady stream of enrollment paperwork, medical forms, and permission slips that need scanning and copying alongside printing, and the OfficeJet Pro’s auto document feeder handles multi-page scanning without feeding sheets one at a time. It also supports high-capacity ink cartridges that cut per-page cost versus standard cartridges. Street price runs $150-$200.

• Why it’s a good buy: an auto document feeder that speeds up the constant paperwork scanning a daycare deals with
• Where to buy: Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart

4. Epson WorkForce WF-2960 — best for fast, high-volume text forms

Most daycare printing is plain black text sign-in sheets and permission slips, and the WorkForce line is built around a faster print engine than Epson’s home-focused models, with high-capacity cartridge options that cut per-page cost for centers that print heavy volumes of plain forms. It also includes an auto document feeder for scanning stacks of paperwork. Street price runs $100-$140.

• Why it’s a good buy: a faster print engine built for volume, useful for centers running through stacks of forms each morning
• Where to buy: Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart

5. Canon PIXMA G3270 MegaTank — best for color activity sheets and name tags

For centers that print a lot of color coloring pages, name tags, and decorated parent handouts, the MegaTank line refills from bottles like the EcoTank but at a lower upfront price point, keeping color printing affordable at volume rather than draining a cartridge budget fast. Street price runs $150-$190.

• Why it’s a good buy: affordable color printing at volume, useful for the visual materials preschool classrooms use daily
• Where to buy: Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart

How to get the best price

• Ask suppliers about nonprofit or educator discount programs, since many licensed childcare centers qualify for small-business or educator pricing that isn’t advertised on the standard retail page.
• Buy during back-to-school sales in late summer, when both inkjet and laser printers see some of their steepest annual discounts alongside paper and classroom supplies.
• Calculate true cost per page before comparing sticker prices, since a cheaper printer with expensive replacement cartridges often costs more over a year of daily use than a pricier ink-tank model.
• Check for open-box or refurbished units from major retailers, which often carry a full warranty at 20-30% off for a printer that will see heavy daily wear regardless of condition.

The takeaway: the Epson EcoTank ET-2850 is the best long-term value for centers printing daily, the Canon PIXMA TS3520 fits a small in-home daycare on a tight budget, the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e is worth the extra cost for centers drowning in enrollment paperwork, the Epson WorkForce WF-2960 is the fastest option for high-volume plain-text forms, and the Canon PIXMA G3270 MegaTank keeps color activity sheets affordable at volume.