Week of the Young Child

Check out extended themes and ideas for each day of Week of the Young Child below and follow along on our Facebook Events Page!

Whereas & Therefore:
#WOYC24 Proclamations to Support Early Childhood Educators! We are kicking off the festivities by declaring it the Month of the Young Child! Join the live stream or celebrate in person at the following council meetings as the Proclamation for Month of the Young Child serves as a tool for advocacy and accountability in support of the Early Childhood Education workforce!

📣Guilford County Commissioners Meeting: Thursday, April 3rd at 5:30 pm. Located on the second floor of the Old County Courthouse, 301 W. Market St., Greensboro. Various ways to watch are found here. 

📣Greensboro City Council Meeting: Tuesday, April 1st at 5:30 pm. Located at Katie Dorsett Council Chamber, Melvin Municipal 300 W Washington St GSO NC 27401. Livestream the meeting options found here. 

📣High Point City Council Meeting: Monday, April 7th at 5:30 pm. Located at Council Chambers, 3rd Floor of the Municipal Building, 211 South Hamilton Street High Point, NC 27261. Livestream the meeting options found here. 

Would your town like a Month of the Young Child 2025 Proclamation? Contact us at Information@GuilfordChildren.org to arrange details. We would be happy to accomodate requests within Guilford County. 

Kick Off Saturday

☀️Get outside and enjoy the fresh spring air at a variety of kid's events around town. Find the partnering organizations at the different events to get flyers and tips for WOYC. 

☀️Save the date! YMCA of Greensboro's Healthy Kids Day is a day dedicated to celebrating families and kids. FREE event and fun for the whole family. | 1-4 p.m. | LeBauer Park, Great Lawn & Stage

Music Monday

🎶Make some noise! 

📝WOYC Activity: Join us for Littles Music and Movement is a free class every Monday at the High Point Library from 11-11:30am

🎉Guilford County Spirit Week: Dress like a musician! Be creative - Rock out from a favorite decade in 80’s neon or 90’s grunge, wear that shirt with a dino playing a guitar, rep Run DMC in Adidas, let out a little Swiftie sparkle

💡Activity ideas for Centers: Check out the variety of options for music classes that you can incorporate into your class’s routine! The Basics Guilford has provided us with a fantastic list of resources to align with the Basics Insights and The Basics. Share the resources with families too! Music Monday Flyer PDF Music Monday Flyer PNG (coming soon)

🏠Activity ideas at home: Create a musical instrument out of recyclable materials, have a dance party, check out Message in a Backpack™ Make Animal Music available in many languages, Pat-Clap-Count support math readiness in your early learner through patterns and music!

Tasty Tuesday

🍎Catch the Cooking Bug!

📝WOYC Activity: EQuIPD’s Guiding Healthy Behaviors and Guilford County’s NC Cooperative Extension are teaming up to get cooking! Chef Vincent will lead a cooking class. Video will be available for viewing at home. Grocery lists will be available on our Facebook events page prior to day-of so our little chefs and their families can follow along!

🎉Guilford County Spirit Week: Yummy - Breakfast in bed?! Nope- just breakfast, lunch and dinner in your pajamas at school! Head to class in your favorite jammies!

💡Activity ideas for Centers: Shout out to one center for their idea - pancakes for lunch!; Contact Guiding Healthy Behaviors, include curriculum suggested by Farm to ECE that incorporates fresh food into learning and play, make a meal together.

🏠Activity ideas at home: CRUNCH – have an apple tasting contest, try a new food, eat together as a family and talk about all the colors and textures of what is on your plate, check out Message in a Backpack™ - Supporting Healthy Eating Habits: Tips for Families.

Need access to nutritious food? The Greater High Point Food Alliance has a very thorough, up-to-date and interact app to find local food resources called the Greater Guilford Food Finder. 

Work Together Wednesday

🟢 “The fight for childcare and early learning is a collective one. As parents, educators, community members, and allies, there is a place for each and every one of us in the movement for a stronger, affordable, accessible, and equitable childcare system.” - NAEYC

📝WOYC Activity: Keep an eye on our social media as we watch our civic leaders enter early education facilities across Guilford County to read to our little learners. 

What is an Early Childhood Educator (ECE)? You may know them as the wonderful people in your daycares, childcares, in-home care centers, preschool teachers, nannies, and so much more that teach and nurture the minds of our children birth through five.

🎉Guilford County Spirit Week: GO GREEN FOR GUILFORD’S EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS! Show your support for your educators by wearing green across the county. Parents and caregivers, ask your center about a proud parent sticker that says “I am at work today thanks to an Early Childhood Educator”. 

💡Activity ideas for Centers: Please contact information@GuilfordChildren.org to arrange receiving your proud parent stickers that says “I am at work today thanks to an Early Childhood Educator” for sharing with parents and caregivers. Celebrate your educators today – have kids make thank you cards, ask parents to provide breakfast for staff, encourage participation in Go Green!

🏠Activity ideas at home: Sign up to volunteer in your child's classroom, ask the ECE if there are any tasks that you can help with at home like cutting out materials, donate books or toys (with permission) to the classroom, plan a beautification day for parents to help plant shrubs or fix mulch on the playground. ADVOCATE for your child’s educator when asked about your sticker – you can be a voice toward a stronger, accessible, and equitable childcare system. Learn more about how you can be an advocate here.

Artsy Thursday

🎨Get colorful and don't be afraid to get messy!

📝WOYC Activity: Art around town!

🎉Guilford County Spirit Week: Wear Tie-Dye and Mismatched Patterns! Think wacky and tacky or silly and sparkly! Be bold, be loud, and make a splash in what you wear!

💡Activity ideas for Centers: Let imaginations soar! Have helping hands decorate the classroom for spring, take virtual tours of art museums, make puppets and hold a play that encourages collaboration and social emotional interactions, time to get out the chalk!

🏠Activity ideas at home: Play iSpy with colors and patterns you see around you, go on a nature walk and collect items to make a picture, draw letters in the mud, participate in an event through the High Point Arts Council, tour the Weatherspoon Art Museum at UNCG for free, catch a show at the Community Theatre of Greensboro or High Point, explore the kid's themed sculptures and art at Gateway Gardens, stop by ArtQuest at Greenhill on First Friday in Downtown Greensboro.

Family Friday

📚A Lens of Literacy!

📝WOYC Activity: Details for an exciting collaboration with Greensboro Public Libraries coming soon!

🎉Guilford County Spirit Week: Dress up like a PBS Character – does Elmo make you giggle? Do you love Pink like Pinkalicious? How much fun is riding the trolley with Daniel Tiger? Show your love for all your favorite PBS characters over the years. Whether it’s a shirt with Sesame Street characters on it or a Thomas the Train conductor hat, we’re glad to have you all aboard!

Here are some PBS provided cut out masks: Arthur Mask, Curious George Mask, Daniel Tiger Mask, Nature Cat Mask, Pinkalicious Mask, Sesame Street Mask

💡Activity ideas for Centers: Have show and tell with pictures of family and loved ones brought in by the kids, incorporate Curious George books into your lesson plans, talk about what it means to be a good neighbor, welcome families in to your classroom for the day – encourage participation in circle time or recess.

🏠Activity ideas at home: View clips of Family Time provided by our friends at PBS (see links below), enjoy dinner time around the table taking turns to tell about your day, sign up for Basic Insights - a free text messaging platform for parents and caregivers of young children that sends science-based tips to boost your child’s development because Parenting is Hard! Sign up for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library - build your library at home with a book delivered to your door monthly, for free, for every child ages 0 up to 5, living in Guilford County. 

PBS Kids Video Resources for Families: Talk About Family Traditions, Family Time with Grover, Elmo's Me Time versus Us Time

We're Celebrating All Month Long!!

📆April Events for Families & Children:

Event: YMCA Healthy Kids Day®
Date: Saturday, April 5, 2025 (No Rain Date)
Time: 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Location: LeBauer Park, 208 N. Davie Street, Greensboro, NC