Celebrating Week of the Young Child
The Week of the Young Child is a weeklong celebration of early learning, young children, their teachers, families, and their communities. Maybe you have participated in this annual event, or maybe this is the first time you have heard about it. Whichever category you fit in (or somewhere in between) all are welcome to join in this annual celebration!
This week, full of fun and interactive activities, is sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), which is the largest early childhood education association in the world. The purpose of the Week of the Young Child® is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs. This is a chance for us to come together to celebrate young children, their families, and the early childhood programs support them. We encourage you to find a way to join in the celebration.
NAEYC suggests one way to join the fun, by following along with their Daily Themes. You can plan activities each day that fit into each days’ theme, or you could participate by reading books that go along with the daily theme. Check out our booklist suggestion here. Additionally, here are some activity ideas for each day:
Kick-off Saturday
Post a video, blog or social media post sharing why you celebrate Week of the Young Child and what you do to prepare
Plan a virtual event with your social media community
Take some time for yourself, reorganize and re-energize so that you’re ready for the week ahead
Create a dancing playlist for Music Monday
Search your kitchen for ingredients for your Tasty Tuesday activity
For Work Together Wednesday, work with other educators in your program to draft a group letter to your elected officials, emphasizing the need to #InvestinECE
Gather your arts and crafts for Artsy Thursday
Draft an email to parents explaining what they should expect during #WOYC24 and how they can prepare for your Family Friday activities.
Music Monday
When children sing, dance, and listen to music, they develop their language and early literacy skills while being active and encouraging movement.
Make up and record your own unique version of a song or write your own, and share it on Facebook, X, and Instagram using the #WOYC24 hashtag.
Tasty Tuesday
This fun, food-themed day is about more than just cheese and crackers. Cooking together connects math with literacy skills, science, and more. With the rise in childhood obesity, you can encourage healthy nutrition and fitness habits at home and in the classroom.
Create your own healthy snacks and share the recipes and photos of your creations on Facebook, X, and Instagram using the #WOYC24 hashtag.
Work Together Wednesday
When children build together, they explore math and science concepts and develop their social and early literacy skills. Children can use any building material—from a fort of branches on the playground to a block city in the classroom, or a hideaway made from couch pillows at home.
Build and share pictures of children’s creations on Facebook, X, and Instagram using the #WOYC24 hashtag.
Artsy Thursday
Children develop creativity, social skills and fine motor skills with open-ended art projects where they can make choices, use their imaginations, and create with their hands. On Artsy Thursday celebrate the joy and learning children experience when engaged in creative art making.
Use any materials—from crayons to paint, clay to crafts! Create and share photos of your children’s creations on Facebook, X, and Instagram using the #WOYC24 hashtag.
Family Friday
Engaging and celebrating families is at the heart of supporting our youngest learners. NAEYC applauds family members’ role as young children’s first and most important teachers.
Share pictures and stories about your family on Facebook, X, and Instagram using the #WOYC24 hashtag.
Visit NAEYC resources page for more ideas and inspiration!
Why focus on young children and early childhood programs?
Thanks to recent research findings we know more than ever before that children’s earliest years are instrumental in shaping their learning and development. The needs of young children and their families are even more urgent than they have ever been.
The Week of the Young Child® is a time to remember and recognize that children's opportunities are our responsibility and correlate directly with what we offer them each day. This is a chance to recommit ourselves to ensuring that each and every child experiences the type of early environment—at home, at childcare, at school, and in the community—that will promote their early learning.
Resources: https://www.naeyc.org/events/woyc/overview
