The Week of the Young Child (WOYC) is a weeklong celebration in the United States, promoted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). This holiday recognizes the pivotal role of early education and childcare providers and educators in the foundational development of young learners and their families. This year is particularly special as it is the 50th anniversary of WOYC and will be celebrated from April 10-16, 2021.
Typically, WOYC is commemorated through hands-on learning activities involving various aspects of music, food, and art to encourage living a healthy lifestyle. There are a lot of fun ways you can celebrate and we’ve listed several ideas below:
Partake in the Daily Themes
NAEYC has outlined themes on each day throughout the week that you can follow, along with the children and staff in your center.
Kick Off Saturday
- Post a video, blog, or social media post sharing why you celebrate the Week of the Young Child and what it means to you as an educator. Use #WOYC so your posts show up with everyone else’s!
- Write an email to parents explaining what they should expect during WOYC and how they can prepare their child for your week of activities.
- Decorate your center with WOYC banners and posters to remind staff about the importance of the event.
Music Monday
- Have each child suggest a fun topic and create a brief, 30-second song about it.
- Play various music throughout the day. Include some calming songs during learning or nap time and more upbeat tunes during snack time, lunch, or playtime.
- Organize a musical drum circle and have some children clap, some sing, others snap, and more to create a song.
- Invite children to bring instruments from home like ukuleles, tambourines, drums, and more.
- Build musical rain stick instruments out of cardboard tubes, tissue paper, and beads. Here’s more info on how to make your own.
Tasty Tuesday
- Instruct students on how to prepare easy snacks on their own. For example, show children how to build an ‘ants on a log’ snack with celery, peanut butter, and raisins or create a yogurt parfait with berries, yogurt, and granola.
- Teach children about the importance of portion sizes by having them draw their favorite foods on a piece of paper that includes a drawing or picture of a plate. Nourish Interactive offers dozens of free printables all about nutrition and healthy eating.
- Ask children to help in the kitchen during snack or lunchtime by setting the table or cleaning up.
Work Together Wednesday
- Encourage teamwork with outdoor activities like obstacle courses.
- Host a three-legged race or a wheelbarrow race to highlight the importance of working together to reach your goals.
- Allow children to share a time when they worked with someone in their family to build or make something and ask them to bring a picture to the class.
Artsy Thursday
- Use paints and butcher paper to memorialize each child’s hand prints.
- Encourage each child to draw a self-portrait.
- Go outside and play with chalk. They can try playing hopscotch, drawing outlines of their friends, and more.
- Provide play dough for the children to build shapes and structures out of.
Family Friday
- Allow parents to attend lunch with their child either virtually or in person (depending on your center’s current COVID-19 health and safety regulations).
- Ask children to share with the class about one of their family members and bring a picture of them or an item that reminds the child of that person.
- Invite children to dress up like one of their family members for the day.
For more information about NAEYC’s themes and inspiration about how you can celebrate, visit their resource guide.
Support education by participating in Week of the Young Child.
WOYC is about much more than having fun with the children and families enrolled at your center. It is a way to advocate for the ECE community as a whole and help inform policymakers about the changes we want to see across our industry.
Together, we can make sure the ECE industry receives the recognition it deserves- one center at a time! Download NAEYC’s 2021 America for Early Ed + Week of the Young Child toolkit, which features resources, action steps, and sample social media posts as a guide for your WOYC celebrations.
For more information, check out the video resource below! 📹
