Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) is preparing to celebrate brain building for children birth to five with their annual Vroom Week November 26 – 30. Vroom is an early learning initiative that empowers parents, families and child care providers to turn everyday moments into brain-building moments with children up to 5 years old. Vroom is based on the latest science and designed to fit into every day routines.
During Vroom Week CCAoA will post daily Vroom tips with suggested activities for parents/families/child care providers to engage in with children for each themed day. Here are the daily themes and a brain-building tip to go with each day. You can use these exact activities or let the theme of the day inspire you to come up with your own game!
Memory Master Monday
For the first day of Vroom Week, it’s all about sharing what you’re each doing. One tip you can take with younger children (age 2-3), is talking about how foods change as you’re cooking. You can talk about how rice starts hard but gets soft after it’s boiled. Let your little one feel the rice in its different stages. By sharing information about the food you’re making, you’re promoting working memory and critical thinking.
Take Turns Tuesday
Tuesday is all about taking turns while you explore the world with children. For children who are a little older (ages 4-5), play a game of “Letter Lookout.” Pick a letter for the day and try to look for it everywhere. For example, if you pick the letter “B,” you could point out a bus driving by. Now it’s your child’s turn to call out another “B” word. See how many things you can find during the day. This fun game teaches children to become aware of the environment around them and helps them make connections between similar things.
Word Play Wednesday
Children don’t need to be able to read to enjoy the brainy tips for Word Play Wednesday! Even babies can learn from you describing everything you’re doing as you get her dressed in the morning. Make eye contact as you explain why you picked out her outfit and be sure to respond to any sounds that she makes. When you broadcast your actions (much like a sports announcer), you’re helping your baby associate words with actions.
Let’s Play Thursday
When it comes to playtime on Thursday, two’s better than one—so react to your child’s words, sounds, and movements to up the fun! We like the game of Silly Charades for preschool-aged children. Pretend to be an animal or person you both know and use your facial expressions, body movements, and sound effects to help your child guess who you are. As he guesses, he’s using observation skills and memories of past experiences. When it’s his turn, he’s using his own perspective and growing important communication skills.
Follow Friday
On Friday, be sure to tune into your child’s sounds, movements, and more. With babies, try mimicking the noises they make like you’re having a conversation. See how many times you can babble back and forth. You’re teaching them the basics of language by letting them take the lead.
How CCR&Rs Can Participate
CCAoA has made it easy for CCR&R agencies to participate in Vroom Week this year. You can easily share pre-made social media posts from our social press kit (access them here!). Included are posts that share the Vroom daily brain building for parents, families and providers. You can also participate online by sharing your own daily brain building tips, photos or videos with the hashtag #Vroom4TheFuture. We also encourage you to write about your experiences and “aha moments” with Vroom here. Anyone who uses the hashtag or submits an aha moment will qualify to win a prize each day.
Other suggestions for promoting the brain science to your community during Vroom Week:
- Share free brain building resources with your local providers and families
- Let everyone know they already have what it takes to be a brain builder with this short video
- Share the Brain Building Basics video
- Invite everyone to visit the Vroom Week webpage
- Encourage everyone to download the Daily Vroom App on iOS or Android devices for access to over 1,000 brain building tips or explore tips online
CCAoA looks forward to celebrating Vroom Week with you!
