Celebrating #WOYC25!
We are currently celebrating #WOYC25 with an in-person event in Dayton and emails with activity ideas for each day of the week! We also received mayoral proclamations from Mayor Aftab Pureval of Cincinnati, Mayor Andrew Ginther of Columbus, and Mayor Jeffrey Mims, Jr. of Dayton!
Check out the pictures below and then take a look at the activity ideas and community resources for each day of the week!
April 7: 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 and math skills while having fun with friends and family!
Music Monday Inspiration
Support Math Readiness Through Music
By Eugene Geist
Music is one of the first ways children experience math. Without thinking, our bodies react to music. When we hear music, we rock our babies, clap along, and even look toward the source of the sound. These responses are reactions to musical elements such as steady beat, rhythm, and melody, all of which reflect mathematical concepts. Even the youngest of children can respond to music and the mathematical principles behind it. Here are three musical elements that relate to math and some suggested activity ideas to try at home.
April 8: 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.
Tasty Tuesday Inspiration
Message in a Backpack™ Learning through Everyday Activities
By PBS Kids and the Ready to Learn Initiative
Have fun with food words while you eat. For example, if you serve potatoes, chicken, and peas for dinner, talk about which of the foods begin with the same /p/ sound. Look for other items on the table that begin with /p/ sounds, like plate or pepper. You can also take turns coming up with words that rhyme with something you or your child is eating. For example, cheese rhymes with peas.
April 9: Work Together Wednesday
When children build together they explore math and science concepts and develop their social and early literacy skills. Children can use any building material—from a fort of branches on the playground to a block city in the classroom, or a hideaway made from couch pillows at home.
Work Together Wednesday Inspiration
How to Support Children’s Approaches to Learning? Play with Them!
By Gaye Gronlund
What kind of play helps children learn the best? Play that really engages children—play that they will focus on and stay with even when problems arise. This kind of play helps children develop their approaches to learning—in other words, the ways they respond to learning situations. Curiosity about the world, initiative and problem solving, and focused attention and persistence are just a few approaches to learning that children develop through play.
April 10: Artsy Thursday
Children develop creativity, social skills, and fine muscles with open-ended art projects that let them make choices, use their imaginations, and create with their hands.
Artsy Thursday Inspiration
Meaningful Art Projects Parents Can Fit into a Busy Day
By Richard Rende, PhD
Art projects offer children and families many benefits. Child development and pediatrics experts agree that even short spurts of creative time greatly impact social, cognitive, and emotional development of children in their earliest formal years and create long-lasting memories. It’s important to remember that a meaningful art project doesn’t need to take a lot of parent preparation time.
April 11: Family Friday
Parents and families are children’s first teachers. Family Friday focuses on engaging families to support our youngest learners.
Family Friday Inspiration
Message in a Backpack™ Planning a Trip? Encourage Your Child to Help
By Deborah Farmer Kris
No matter where you’re going—whether running errands around town or to a big gathering far away—you can encourage your child to practice their literacy skills as you plan together. Here are some resources and tips from PBS KIDS to help.