Take your child to work day is an annual event that encourages parents to take their child to their workplace for a day. It’s typically celebrated on the fourth Thursday of April. This idea is to help children see what it is like working in the real world, helping them understand what a job is and what careers are.
For Woodhaven, the teachers who brought their kids have chances to do activities. Some activities included making slime, making bookmarks, making homemade pasta, building wind chimes, and even learning about entrepreneurship.
While the teachers brought their students, most Woodhaven students got the chance to work with their parents.
On my take your child to work day, I went to work with my father’s company doing construction.
My father does SLR (service line replacements) in Detroit for DWSD (Detroit Water and Sewage Department). For my take-your-child-to-work day, I went to work and helped as much as I could.
On the day that I went to work, two crews were working at the same time, one crew doing SLR and the other crew doing restoration work. They do restoration work after they finish doing a whole street of SLR. When I came to help, I was doing restoration work while some of the other guys were working on the SLR.
Take your child to work day strengthens bonds between parents and children, especially when you are older. The child gets a reality check and actually sees how life is after high school/college. Children can ask questions, express their interests, and even put themselves in their parents’ shoes to see if that could be their path.
The benefits go beyond just observation. Children learn important lessons about responsibility, teamwork, communication, and the dedication it takes to succeed in any career. They may even discover new interests by watching what your parents do.
For parents, it is a special moment to share a big part of their lives with their children. Many adults spend a significant portion of their week at work, and kids often don’t fully understand what that means.
The effects of Take Your Child to Work Day can be deep and long-lasting. For some children, it’s the first time they seriously think about what kind of work they might want to pursue someday. Watching your parents work can give you motivation and encouragement to do what they do.
Take your child to work day is more than just a day to skip school; it’s a day to see what real life is like. It helps kids understand what their parents do every day and gives them ideas about what they might want to do when they grow up. It also shows that hard work matters and that every job is important in its own way.