Week of the Young Child 2022

The needs of young children and their families have increased in recent years, and we know now more than ever about the importance of children’s earliest years in shaping their learning and development. This April, we join affiliates across the country in celebrating Week of the Young Child to shine a spotlight on the needs of young children, their families, and the early childhood programs that serve them.

Week of the Young Child (WOYC) is an annual event during the month of April sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children celebrating early learning, young children, their teachers and families. This year WOYC is scheduled for April 2-8.

The week aims to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize early childhood programs and services that meet those needs. It is a time to recognize that children’s opportunities are everyone’s responsibility and to recommit to ensuring that every child experiences the type of early environment – at home, at child care, at school, and in the community – that is safe, secure, promotes early learning, and will set them up for future success.

“Taking part in WOYC in Onslow County is something we look forward to each year at One Place,” said Colleen Leonard, Training and Technical Assistance Supervisor at One Place. “Our main objective during this week is to spend quality time simply celebrating children and those that care for them.”

This year, we’re celebrating WOYC with a variety of planned activities for local children, families, and caregivers. The week kicks off with a virtual screening of the documentary, No Small Matter, highlighting the importance of high-quality early care and education and the impact it has on children and the future of our nation. Family activity events, including car seat safety checks, gross motor activities, and dance parties are scheduled throughout the week at three local parks in collaboration with Onslow County Public Library and Onslow County Parks and Recreation.

Our staff are also partnering with early care and education programs around the county to engage in on-site activities including music and movement, literacy, and more. In addition, on Saturday, April 9, we are hosting a “Caring for the Caregiver” virtual event for early care and education providers with a focus on self-care and information on the 5 Protective Factors.

“Week of the Young Child is important to celebrate because it is a time dedicated to recognizing the importance of the early years in a child’s life,” said Courtney Wandishin, NC Pre-K Coordinator at One Place. “As leaders in the early education community, it is our duty to share our knowledge and inspire the same value of those early years.”

While WOYC is scheduled for just one week each year, at One Place our focus on early care and education is year-round.

“Through the NC Pre-K program and the technical assistance services that we provide to the community we are committed to supporting early educators in creating and sustaining high-quality early learning environments that set the stage for experiences that prepare our youngest learners for success not only in school but in life,” Wandishin said.

The week is guided by themed days: Music Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Work Together Wednesday, Artsy Thursday, and Family Friday.

Local Park Activity Days

April 4, 2022: Hubert Bypass Park 1-3 PM

April 5, 2022: Steed Park 1-3 PM

April 6, 2022: Deppe Park 1-3 PM

Celebrating the Caregiver: April 9, 9 am to 12 pm. Register Here.

No Small Matter virtual screening: Register Here.

Low cost/no cost ideas for quality, engaging activities to celebrate WOYC with your family:

Music Monday –

• Make a playlist of your child’s favorite songs, or your favorite songs to share with your child.
• Play a simple game, like “Freeze Dance” or “Animal Dancing”; for Freeze Dance, simply dance until the music stops, and then freeze! For Animal Dancing, take turns choosing an animal to dance like – for example, dance like a duck!
• Create homemade drums using tin cans, yogurt containers, coffee cans, really anything! Decorate with whatever is around the house.
• Create musical shakers – you can use an empty Pringles can, a plastic Easter egg, a water bottle, etc. Fill with anything that will “shake” – rice, dried beans, popcorn kernels etc. Just be sure to secure the lid, and do not allow children to use the shaker without supervision.
• Create a tambourine with foil pie pans or two paper plates; fill with dried beans, rice, etc. Attach bells to the outside edges if you have them. Decorate with your child.
• Share music, songs, genres, etc. that are important to your family’s culture.
• For a powerful literacy connection, check out Change Sings by Amanda Gorman.

Tasty Tuesday –

• Make your own family cookbook; you can even just put it in a notebook! If you want to get a little more involved, you can create the cookbook as a photo book. Include photos of your children enjoying the recipes.
• Try a new recipe; it doesn’t have to be fancy!
• Make your own play-dough, or grab some from the store. Let the children in your life get creative with making play dough “food” for you.
• Check out Trey the Chef by Kira Parris-Moore or Tacos! An Interactive Recipe Book by Lotta Nieminen for a great literacy connection.

Work Together Wednesday –

• Do a puzzle! Don’t have one? Make your own! You can cut a piece of paper into puzzle shapes and work together to make it whole.
• Write a thank-you note as a family.
• Tackle a chore together.
• Read A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams. Swimmy by Leo Lionni, or The Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle for literacy connections and conversations about working together.

Artsy Thursday –

• Create masterpieces with sidewalk chalk.
• Collect materials outside to make a collage.
• Write a poem together.
• Use recycling to create art; cardboard and some tape can go a long way with a little imagination! Check out the book Not a Box by Antoinette Portis or You Are My Work of Art by Sue DiCicco for a fun literacy connection.

Family Friday –

• Story Walks at the Park.
• Do a nature scavenger hunt.
• Visit one of the Little Free Libraries around the county to get some fresh books for the weekend.
• Create a “memory jar”; using any type of container, start writing down one good memory each week. Open the container a year from now to relive those great memories together!
• If you have young children under age 5, take a few minutes to sign them up for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library!
• Check out The Family Book by Todd Parr, Stellaluna by Janell Cannon, or The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster for some fun books about families.

For more information on programs and services available through One Place, visit www.oneplaceonslow.org

For additional information on WOYC check out: https://www.naeyc.org/events/woyc