Happy Week of the Young Child! Hosted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), this week is dedicated to honoring the unique needs of young children and recognizing the early learning programs that meet those needs. Hatch™ is proud to support this important initiative and help teachers and parents inspire a lifelong love for learning!
Throughout the week, you can incorporate these fun and engaging activities in your classroom. All activities are designed to engage young children and promote their development in a fun and interactive way. Don't forget to share your photos of your activities in the comment section on our social media #WOYC23 posts to be entered to win a $50 Amazon® gift card to use for your classroom!
Music Monday
This is a group activity that incorporates movement and helps children with early literacy skills.
What you’ll need: A music player with speakers
What to do: During this activity, encourage your classroom to sing and dance to songs like "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," "B-I-N-G-O," or "If You're Happy and You Know It." These songs are great for recognizing patterns of language, including basic spelling, rhymes, sentence patterns and parts of speech.
Tasty Tuesday
This whole-class activity will help children work on their math and literacy skills while also introducing healthy habits.
What you’ll need: A variety of fruits and vegetables
What to do: Create a healthy snack in your classroom! Provide children with a variety of fruits and vegetables to touch, smell, and taste. Encourage them to describe different colors, textures, and flavors that they experience. Use this opportunity to introduce new vocabulary words related to healthy eating habits.
Work Together Wednesday
This small-group, or whole-class, activity will encourage teamwork and literacy skills by providing hands-on opportunities for children to build together.
What you’ll need:
- Blocks
- LEGO® bricks
- Other construction materials
What to do: Create small groups or invite the whole class to build a masterpiece from the materials in the list. This is a great way to encourage collaborative learning experiences that build on social–emotional development.
Artsy Thursday
This individual activity encourages children to exercise their creativity, develop their social skills, and enhance their fine motor abilities.
What you’ll need:
- Paint
- Markers
- Crayons
- Clay or Play-Doh®
- Construction paper
What to do: Create an open-ended art station where children can freely explore and create. With the freedom to make choices, use their imaginations, and create with their hands, children can explore their innermost thoughts and emotions in a safe and expressive way.
Family Friday
Family Friday is a special day during the Week of the Young Child that celebrates family involvement in young children's education. This small-group activity encourages families to participate, or this can also be done individually.
What you’ll need:
- Construction paper or poster board
- Magazines, newspapers, or printed photos
- Scissors
- Glue sticks
- Markers or crayons
What to do: Invite families to work together to create a family collage that showcases their unique family. Provide each family with a piece of construction paper or poster board and a variety of magazines, newspapers, or printed photos. Encourage families to cut out pictures or words that represent their family and glue them onto the paper. They can also draw pictures or write words that describe their family. Once the collage is complete, invite each family to share their creation with the class and talk about what makes their family special.
All of Hatch's learning solutions support collaborative play and social–emotional development. Click below to Learn more and schedule a demo with one of our specialists!
