The Week of the Young Child is an annual celebration that underscores the importance of early childhood education. It shines a spotlight on young children, their families, and the educators who support them. Organized by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), this event takes place from April 6 to the 12th and is celebrated by early childhood programs, schools, and communities across the country.
Kiddie Academy is thrilled to celebrate the annual Week of the Young Child. This week allows us to emphasize the value of early childhood education and its crucial role in a child’s development. Our focus during this is to generate awareness about the needs of young children and their families, and to highlight the significance of top-notch early education programs. At Kiddie Academy, we are dedicated to creating a nurturing environment that encourages learning through play, discovery, and hands-on activities.
Here’s a look at how the week shapes up at Kiddie Academy and some activities children can participate in:
Music Monday
- Introduce the children to different styles of music or music from around the world and invite the children to dance along.
- Borrow an instrument from your local library for children to explore.
- Invite the children to use recyclable materials to make a shaker or drum. Encourage the class to play their instruments as they sing and dance along to favorite classroom songs.
- Invite older children to create and record an original song.
Tasty Tuesday
- Invite families to share an example of a fruit or vegetable from their culture.
- Make a healthy snack together, such as a smoothie, apple smiles, or ants on a log.
- Plan a taste test to learn about the sense of taste and chart children’s responses.
- Ask families to share an easy family recipe to create an Academy cookbook. Review the recipes and encourage children to discuss their favorite meals from home.
Work Together Wednesday
- Collect boxes of different sizes and shapes. Invite the children to brainstorm creative ways they could use the box.
- Encourage children to work together to create homemade playdough for another classroom.
- Plan a shared writing experience to create a class story. Invite each child to add a sentence to the story.
- Invite children to work together to prepare their playground garden by digging through soil, planting seeds or flowers, or creating signs for the garden box.
Artsy Thursday
- Collect recycled materials, such as paper, plastic bottles, empty boxes, etc. Invite the children to create a sculpture with the materials.
- Invite the children to illustrate the pages of a class book.
- Collect nature items and invite the children to use them to paint.
- Invite children to create an outdoor chalk mural.
Family Friday
- Encourage the children to share something special about their family.
- Invite the children to bring in pictures of their family. Assemble the pictures into a class collage or a laminated book in the Library Center.
- Invite family members for a lunch picnic with their child (weather permitting).
