The award, from grant-making body Co-operative Action, will enable Co-operatives UK and its partners to build an information bank. A development officer will also work across the UK with local projects.
Helen Seymour, national strategy co-ordinator for Co-operatives UK, said the project would provide information on all aspects of co-operative ownership.
"There have been childcare co-operatives operating successfully but with the Government's interest in promoting childcare in the last few years we have been able to look at it quite seriously," she said. "This money will enable us to push it much further."
Co-operatives UK plans to pilot a co-operative childcare consortium in London.
Seymour said co-operative childcare offered two main advantages over other forms of ownership: it improved recruitment and retention of staff by giving them a stake in the business; and it allowed users to receive a service more suited to their needs, particularly if they owned the business themselves.
Sara Lees of Co-operative Action said childcare was a "turbulent and competitive environment", but co-operative ownership could empower staff, parents and other carers in the community.
