WOYC Activities and Resources
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This year, Week of the Young Child is extra special—marking a milestone in NAEYC’s century-long commitment to young children, families, and educators. There has never been a better time to shine a spotlight on high-quality early learning and the joy of childhood.
From music and movement to arts, cooking, and family celebrations, these resources help children explore, create, and grow while giving you the tools to celebrate their learning and development.
Join us in honoring the legacy of early childhood education, share your activities with your community, and inspire learning that lasts a lifetime.
WOYC Activities and Resources
Kick-off Saturday
Get Ready for a Week of Celebration!
Plan, share, and get energized for the week ahead. From posting a video or social media message about why you celebrate WOYC to hosting a virtual kickoff or simply taking time for yourself, this day sets the tone for a week of fun and learning.
Tips to Kick Off the Week:
- Share a video, blog, or social media post about why you celebrate WOYC and how you prepare.
- Host a virtual event to share your local proclamation or lead a fun activity.
- Take time for yourself to recharge.
- Plan for the week: create a playlist for Music Monday, gather ingredients for Tasty Tuesday, prep materials for Work Together Wednesday, restock art supplies for Artsy Thursday, and draft a parent email for Family Friday.
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!
Activity
Join the chorus for change by working with your state affiliates to secure proclamations honoring early childhood educators and explore the Proclamation Toolkit to advocate for your profession.
Resources on Playing and Learning with Music
- 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?
- Experiencias Musicales
- Strike Up the Band*
- 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
*Members Only
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.
Activity
Engage families by exploring culturally meaningful foods, sharing stories or recipes, introducing new ingredients, and creating a community recipe book illustrated by the children.
Resources on Cooking and Nutrition
- Creating Positive Mealtime Environments in Preschool Settings*
- Centros de aprendizaje: Cocina
- Cooking It Up with 3-Year-Olds
- Using Environmental Print to Support Content Learning: Learning from Cereal Boxes*
- 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
*Members Only
Work Together Wednesday
When children build together they experience teamwork and develop their social and early literacy skills. Grab some materials and create!
Activity
Advance the profession by joining Power to the Profession, engaging on HELLO, connecting with elected officials, or inviting someone new to NAEYC. Collaboration strengthens impact for children and the field.
Resources on Building Together
- 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
- Manos pequeñas, grandes ideas: La exploración de STEM mediante la tinkering, la creación y la ingeniería
- The Wonder of Woodwork in Early Childhood: Exercising Imagination, Creativity, and Problem Solving
- Building Executive Function Skills Through Games: The Power of Playful Learning
- Build It! Activities to Stretch Children's Understanding of STEM Concepts
- The Birdfeeder Project
- Message in a Backpack,™ Making STEM Connections with Your Child
- Mensaje en la mochila.™ Cómo establecer conexiones de STEM con su hijo/a
- Message in a Backpack.™ Tinkering and Making at Home: Tips for Families
- Mensaje en la mochila.™ Tinkering y crear en casa: Consejos para las familias
- How to Support Children’s Approaches to Learning: Play with Them!
- 10 Cajas Temáticas para Aprender
*Members Only
Work Together Wednesday is sponsored by
Artsy Thursday
Children develop creativity, social skills, and fine motor skills with open-ended art projects that let them make choices, use their imaginations, and create with their hands.
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. Need brochures? Visit our online store: NAEYC.org/shop.
- Create a digital gallery on social media or on your website. Create a print book to share with the community. Tip: Sell the book for fundraising your trip to this year’s NAEYC conference!
Resources on Art and Creativity
- Creating Dramatic Play Area That Support Literacy Development
- Intentionally Building Self-Regulations and Literacy Skills: The Power of Dramatization in Kindergarten
- Centros de aprendizaje: Arte
- What Will We Make? Using Process Art to Spark Preschoolers’ Development
- 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*
- Message in a Backpack™. Sparkling Playful Learning with Your Child.
- Message in a Backpack™ Encouraging Process Art at Home: Reaping the Benefits of Joy and Making
- Meaningful Art Projects Parents Can Fit Into a Busy Day
*Members Only
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.
Activity
Connect families to NAEYC, your local affiliate, and advocacy opportunities. Share resources that help families support learning and engage with policymakers.
Resources on Engaging and Celebrating Families
- Honoring Home Languages: Strategies to Encourage Preschoolers' Translanguaging Practices
- 6X. Six Ways Educators Can Honor Home Languages
- Five Rs for Promoting Positive Family Engagement
- 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
- Message in a Backpack.™ Sparkling Playful Learning with Your Child.
- Message in a Backpack.™ Encouraging Your Child to Lead.
- 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
Family Friday is sponsored by
Looking to add the official logo to your event materials?
- Download the full color with white NAEYC logo, full color with black NAEYC, or the full white version of the WOYC logo
- Review the WOYC brand guidelines below
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