WOYC Activity Resources
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There is so much that children learn as they sing, cook together, build together, create art, and celebrate with their families. Download the 2024 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 2024 WOYC celebrations. Together, we can make sure #ECEwins—across the country and in your community!
Proclaim WOYC in Your Community!
Help us reach (and exceed!) our goal of having WOYC officially recognized in your community! Use the "Whereas & Therefore: #WOYC24 Proclamations to Advance the ECE Profession" toolkit to request a proclamation, from your elected officials, that moves beyond thanks and recognition.
WOYC Resources
Kick-off Saturday
Here are list of things you can do to plan for the 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
- Consider hosting a virtual event where you can share your local proclamation or lead a fun activity.
- Take some time for yourself and re-energize so that you’re ready for the week ahead
- Plan for the week ahead
- Create a dancing playlist for Music Monday
- Gather ingredients from your kitchen for a 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
- Replenish your arts and crafts supply for Artsy Thursday
- Draft an email to parents explaining what they should expect during the week and how they can prepare for your Family Friday activity
Music Monday
Music Monday is more than singing and dancing, it’s a way to encourage children to be active while developing their early literacy skills and having fun with friends and family!
Step It Up Activity
Make sure your state and local elected officials are all singing from the same songbook! Join the chorus for change and work with your states’ Affiliates to help policymakers sign proclamations that honor and advance the early childhood education profession as part of the WOYC®. Also, don't forget to access the 2024 Proclamation Toolkit, an easy-to-use resource that will help you secure a proclamation to educate the public, bring attention to our issues, and provide an effective advocacy tool for the future!
Articles on Playing and Learning with Music
Inspiration from the Classroom:
- 8X. Using Music in Your Setting: Tips for the Non-musician
- Teaching and Learning with Hip-Hop Culture
- Ask Hello. Should I Sing or Speak Instructions?
- Now Read This “Books That Connect Music with Nap Times and Bedtimes
- Experiencias Musicales
For Families at Home
- Playing with Music at Home
- 在家里玩音乐游戏 (Playing with Music at Home)
- Support Math Readiness Through Music
- Sing With Me Baby!
- 10 Ways Babies Learn When We Sing to Them
- Message in a Backpack™–Make Animal Music
- رسالة في حقيبة الظه (Message in a Backpack™) اصنع موسيقى من أصوات الحيوانات (Make Animal Music)
- 书包金点子 (Message in a Backpack ™) 制作动物音乐 (Make Animal Music)
- Mensaje en la mochila™: Los sonidos y la música de animales
View our 2024 Music Monday recap for inspiration.
Music Monday is sponsored by
Tasty Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday isn’t just about eating your favorite snacks together. It’s also about cooking together and connecting math with literacy skills and science while introducing ways to incorporate healthy habits into children’s lifestyles. Use the tips, resources, and recipes below to get started.
Step It Up Activity
Explore the culture specific foods that the young children in your classroom may enjoy at home. Connect with families by engaging them in the history and tradition of meals from their countries of origin. Consider having families share a story or recipe about their favorite dish and the history behind it. Introduce your class to new ingredients and discuss where they are grown. Create a recipe book using images the children draw and share the book with the community. The creative opportunities are as endless as the meals themselves.
Articles and Resources on Cooking and Nutrition
Inspiration from the Classroom:
- Cooking It Up with 3-Year-Olds
- Creating Positive Mealtime Environments in Preschool Settings
- Cooking It Up with 3-Year-Olds
- Centros de aprendizaje: Cocina
For Families at Home:
- Message in a Backpack™ - Supporting Healthy Eating Habits: Tips for Families
- Message in a Backpack™–Learning through Everyday Activities
- Mensaje en la mochila™: El aprendizaje en actividades cotidianas
View our 2024 Tasty Tuesday recap for inspiration.
Work Together Wednesday
When children build together they experience teamwork and develop their social and early literacy skills. Grab some materials and create!
Step It Up Activity
The young children in your classroom aren’t the only ones who succeed when they work together. Take a moment to join NAEYC in advancing our profession by signing up for Power to the Profession; supporting your peers through the discussions on HELLO; reaching out to elected officials about the importance of investing in ECE; or inviting someone new to become a member. Working together makes us stronger together, and that means the impact we make can be monumental!
Articles on Building Together
Inspiration from the Classroom:
- Explicando STEAM a los niños en edad escolar
- Playing Around with Number Composition: Games, Stories, and Everyday Problem Solving in the Preschool Classroom
- A Wormery Spurs an Inquiry: Worms Throughout the Curriculum
- Learning Together: Collaborative, Play-Based STEAM Practices in the COVID Era
- I Need to Make It Taller: Engineering to Solve Wind Challenges in Preschool
- Now Read This! Supporting Positive Racial Identity with Literacy-Based Math
- Rocking and Rolling. Nurturing Early Math Play and Discovery
- Funds of Knowledge in Action: Expanding Children’s STEM Knowledge with Neighborhood Connections
For Families at Home:
- Message in a Backpack™. Harnessing the Joy of Open-Ended Materials with Your Child
- Mensaje en la mochila™ Cómo elegir las mejores actividades STEM para sus hijos
- پیام در کوله پشتی ™ (Message in a Backpack™) انتخاب بهترین فعالیت های علم ، فناوری ، مهندسی و ریاضی برای کودک خود
- How to Support Children’s Approaches to Learning: Play with Them!
- 10 Cajas Temáticas para Aprender
View our 2024 Work Together Wednesday recap for inspiration!
Work Together Wednesday is sponsored by
Artsy Thursday
Children develop creativity, social skills, and fine muscles with open-ended art projects that let them make choices, use their imaginations, and create with their hands.
Step It Up Activity
Find ways to display your classroom’s art projects for the community to see, and while you have their attention, educate them about the importance of high-quality early childhood education. Here are some suggestions to get started:
- Set up a gallery at a local business or public library to share your classroom art creations.
- Include information about high-quality care as part of your art displays in community. Need brochures? Visit our online store: NAEYC.org/shop.
- Create a digital gallery on social media or on your program’s website. Share using the hashtag #WOYC24.
- Create a print book to share with the community. Tip: Sell the book for fundraising your trip to an NAEYC conference!
Articles on Art and Creativity
Inspiration from the Classroom:
- Centros de aprendizaje: Arte
- Penguins, Chicks, and Caves: Journal Notes on Moving from STEM to STEAM
- What Will We Make? Using Process Art to Spark Preschoolers’ Development
- Beyond the Art Center: How Prop Making Merges Art and Make-Believe Play
- What Do You See? Including Art Appreciation in Early Childhood
- (Blog) The Value of Documenting Process Art
For Families at Home:
- Message in a Backpack™ Encouraging Process Art at Home: Reaping the Benefits of Joy and Making
- Preschool Play Plans: Chalk Play
- Meaningful Art Projects Parents Can Fit Into a Busy Day
View our 2024 Artsy Thursday recap for inspiration.
Artsy Thursday is sponsored by
Family Friday
Parents and families are children’s first teachers. Family Friday focuses on engaging families to support our youngest learners.
Step It Up Activity
Extend your NAEYC family! The early childhood education community doesn’t end outside the doors of your classroom. Connect with your local affiliate, encourage families to join our Family level membership, learn how to engage with your local policymakers, and more! There are endless opportunities to keep your entire community in-the-know about early childhood education.
Articles on Engaging and Celebrating Families
Inspiration from the Classroom:
- In Our Voices: Creating Community Responsive Listening Centers
- Experiences Can’t Go Home in Cubbies: Using Digital Technology and Documentation
- Five Rs for Promoting Positive Family Engagement
- The Preschool Birth Stories Project: Developing Emergent Curriculum with Families
- Exploring Families’ Language Practices Through a Social Studies Inquiry in Kindergarten
- Welcoming Black Dads: Action Steps and Reflections on Becoming Culturally Competent
- Principles of Effective Family Engagement
- NAEYC Topics: Family Engagement
For Families at Home:
- Promoting Spatial Orientation: A Math Activity for Teachers and Families
- Message in a Backpack™ Encouraging Your Child Through Risks During Play
- Message in a Backpack™: Optimizing the Use of Media and Technology with Your Child
- Am I Really My Child's First Teacher?
- Message in a Backpack™ Helping Your Child through Change
Looking to add the official logo to your event materials?
- Download the color or white version of the WOYC logo
- Review and download the WOYC brand guidelines
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.