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 invest in ECE
• 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

Kick-off Saturday is sponsored by

Click here to watch HighScope's On Demand Lunch and Learn webinar where you can discover practical strategies and engaging activities to inspire meaningful learning experiences during Kick-off Saturday and beyond. 

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 2025 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  
• Now Read This “Books That Connect Music with Nap Times and Bedtimes
• Experiencias Musicales
• Strike Up the Band 

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 2025 Music Monday recap for inspiration.

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:

• Creating Positive Mealtime Environments in Preschool Settings
• Centros de aprendizaje: Cocina
• Meal Kits as a Strengths-Based Practice in Mississippi Delta
• Using Environmental Print to Support Content Learning: Learning from Cereal Boxes

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 2025 Tasty Tuesday recap for inspiration. 

Tasty Tuesday is sponsored by 

Click here to register for Walden University's webinar, Big Feelings are Okay: Supporting Social and Emotional Development, on April 9 where you will dive into practical tips and real-life stories to help you become a nurturing guide for young hearts and minds.

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 
•  I Need to Make It Taller: Engineering to Solve Wind Challenges in Preschool 
• STEM for All: Promoting Inclusive STEM in Early Childhood
• Rocking and Rolling. Using Materials Creatively to Enhance Toddler Learning Environments
• Small Hands, Big Ideas: Exploring STEM Through Tinkering, Making, and Engineering
• The Wonder of Woodwork in Early Childhood: Exercising Imagination, Creativity, and Problem Solving
• Building Executive Function Skills Through Games: The Power of Playful Learning

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
• Message in a Backpack™. Making STEM Connections with Your Child
• Message in a Backpack™. Tinkering and Making at Home: Tips for Families

View our 2025 Work Together Wednesday recap for inspiration!

Work Together Wednesday is sponsored by

Click here to see Tools of the Mind's Work Together Wednesday webpage where you can register for their webinar, Six Ways to Develop Self-Regulation Through Make-believe Play, and find more inspiration on how to implement working together through play.

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
• 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 
• Ask Hello. How Do You Display Children’s Art?
• Weaving Wonders 
• Integrating the Arts into Preschool Literacy Practices

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 2025 Artsy Thursday recap for inspiration.

Artsy Thursday is sponsored by

Click here to learn how you can unleash your inner artist and connect with other families at your local Bright Horizons location during this year's Artsy Thursday.

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 NAEYC to 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:

•  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 
• Principles of Effective Family Engagement
• NAEYC Topics: Family Engagement
• Engaging Families of Multilingual Learners: Using Families’ Stories to Link Classroom Content with Children’s Funds of Knowledge

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 
• Am I Really My Child's First Teacher?
• Message in a Backpack™ Planning a Trip? Encourage Your Child to Help
• Message in a Backpack™ Big Words for Little Learners: Building Vocabulary While Reading Together
• Message in a Backpack™ Asking Questions to Stretch Your Child’s Thinking