A creche in the quiet town of Saint-Maurice, near Lyon, was charred by a petrol bomb.
Little remains of the nursery in Acheres, west of Paris.
Snapshots of the Acheres nursery's babies were among the few objects that escaped the flames.
Residents of Fives, Lille, were shocked at the sight of the ruined nursery.
The "creche familiale" in Fleury-Merogis, south of Paris, was completely destroyed by flames.
Mayor Jean-Claude Andrieu of Carpentras saw the damage at a local nursery for himself.