Week of the Young Child

April 11th - 17th, 2026

We will have fun activities for the kids, resources for the caregivers and giveaways for the family at the Lewis & Clark Library from 11 am - 2 pm.
We will be hosting an offering specific for those who have lost their baby, pregnancy, or child.
Free music class with Music Together.
Harvest of the Month will be doing a food activity.
Join us for our annual Reading in the Rotunda event at the Helena Capitol building. There will be local celebrities reading to children, small resource fair for caregivers and activities to keep you all busy.
ExplorationWorks Early Explorer Class will be themed for Work Together Wednesday!
ExWorks is also doing discounted entry all week.
Details TBD
- Helena Field School class:
- Adventure Friday at Stonetree Climbing Center:
- Family Friday with Elevate Montana:
- Family Farm Tour with Rocking Tree Farms:
- Family Big Splash Movie Bash with YMCA:
Yet to come for 2026 - Click here to see the flyer of events from the Helena School District. The idea is preschoolers get to visit their future school and parents get to meet the principal or teachers.
Click here to find your neighborhood school.

90% of a child's brain develops by age 5. The experiences a child has early in life impacts how their brain develops, which influences their ability to learn in school and how they will function as an adult.
Last year was our biggest year yet! Thanks to everyone in our community, we reached over 500 children and caregivers through our free or discounted activities. This year, you can be involved in many ways
- Host a Pinwheel Pal for the week to help spread the word about Week of the Young Child and Strengthening Families Month.
- Provide a discount to children/families - either for a day or for the week
- Offer an activity or class for children/families
- Provide printed materials - or a small item - to put in our Week of the Young Child bags we give out to preschool children (2,000 of them)
- Table at the kickoff event on Saturday, April 11th and provide resources and/or fun activity for children/families.
Our audience is children 0-8 years old but even if you don’t specifically work with that age of children, we can still be creative in how we show our community we support our children and those who raise them. We are open to more ideas than just this list. Reach out and we can chat!
Contact: Maureen at mbjerke@sphealth.org or 406-461-4449 (call or text).
Visit National Association for the Education of Young Children's (NAEYC) website to learn more about the national Week of the Young Child.