Week of the Young Child
We know that many of you have questions about the upcoming Week of the Young Child (WOYC). We do not take lightly the tough and sometimes heartbreaking decisions educators are having to make during this difficult period.
Knowing that circumstances are different for everyone during the COVID-19 crisis, we will focus on providing you with resources you can use wherever you are celebrating young children. Visit our site often for additional resources, support and inspiration.
We know that many of you have questions about the upcoming Week of the Young Child (WOYC™). We do not take lightly the tough and sometimes heartbreaking decisions educators are having to make during this difficult period.
While WOYC is recognized and lifted up virtually, many of the daily events you plan happen in your classrooms and communities.
Knowing that circumstances are different for everyone, we will focus on providing you with resources you can use wherever you are celebrating young children. Visit this site often for additional resources, support and inspiration.
NAEYC will continue to celebrate and shine a spotlight on your classroom, advocacy, and family engagement activities via our social channels. We look forward to seeing the social media about your celebrations April 11-17 and how we all recognize the importance of community and give hope to our children during what are uneasy times.
Again this year, NAEYC is asking its members, centers, higher ed programs, and everyone else in the early education community to Step It Up (SIU) during WOYC™. We kept the same daily themes, but we challenge YOU to expand them! Spread the word about the importance of high-quality early learning, and the critical role early childhood educators play in a child’s development and learning.
Children learn so much as they enjoy music, explore food and cooking, build together, create art, and celebrate their families! Get inspired by the activities below.
- Kick-off Saturday
Are you ready for #WOYC20? To help you prepare, we’ve come up with a list of things you can do to plan for your week of celebrations!
Things you can do on 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
- Share your local proclamation
- 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 #WOYC20 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, Twitter, and Instagram using the hashtag #woyc20.
Visit our resources page for inspiration.
- 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, Twitter, and Instagram using the hashtag #woyc20.
Visit our resources page for more ideas on healthy food creations and activities!
- 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, Twitter, and Instagram using the hashtag #woyc20.
Visit our resources page to learn more on how teamwork develops young children’s social and early literacy skills.
- Artsy Thursday
Think, problem solve, create! 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, Twitter, and Instagram using the hashtag #woyc20.
Visit our resources page for articles on encouraging imagination and creativity in children.
- 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, Twitter, and Instagram using the hashtag #woyc20.
Visit our resources page celebrations for more ideas on celebrating young children and their families.
By participating in this event and posting video and/or photos, you are representing that you have written permission from each person in the video and/or photos, and if a child, written permission from the child’s parent or legal guardian, to post the video and/or photos and use the likeness of such person therein. By posting the video and/or photos, you grant NAEYC the right to use the video and/or photo and/or any portion thereof in any manner it so chooses, including, without limitation, posting or sharing the video on NAEYC’s website, Facebook page or Twitter account.
WOYC Activity Resources
There is so much that children learn as they sing, cook together, build together, create art, and celebrate with their families. One important thing you can do while celebrating WOYC™ is to advocate for a lifetime of success for all children by bringing America for Early Ed into your 2020 celebrations! Check out the updated America for Early Ed + Week of the Young Child toolkit which features resources, action steps, and sample social media posts. Together, we can make sure #ECEwins—across the country and in your community!
Use these resources and Step It Up (SIU) activity ideas as you begin to plan your celebration for #woyc20!
Visit our resources page celebrations for more ideas on celebrating young children and their families.
What is WOYC?
SOURCE: https://www.naeyc.org/