Teaching diversity to preschoolers is important. It helps them understand and respect that their peers come from all walks of life. Your center’s community is made up of families with different cultures, dynamics, skin colors, religions, and financial backgrounds. Some family units may be single-parent families, or families with two moms or two dads. Children may be living with their adoptive families or in a foster home. The possibilities are truly endless and it’s this diversity that enriches our community greatly.
While the months of January through March offer special resources and activities centered around MLK, Black History Month, and Women’s History Month, celebrating diversity throughout the year to reinforce acceptance of all families and their situations and backgrounds. Diversity activities also help children realize that we’re all humans and share many things in common despite our differences.
Here are some suggestions to introduce your little one to diversity and to begin talking about how to be inclusive from a young age:
1. Encourage questions and open communication
Preschoolers point out different physical characteristics in others without a second thought. They do this in an attempt to understand others in relation to themselves. Encouraging open discussions about these differences lets kids know it’s ok to notice them.
2. Read stories and compare cultural traditions
There is a growing number of diversity-themed books for preschoolers to enjoy. Some of our favorites include Why Am I Different by Norma Simon and It’s OK to be Different by Todd Parr. Point out similarities between other cultures, holidays, and special events.
3. Listen to music from all over the world
Let your toddler listen to their favorite song or nursery rhyme in a different language. Not only will it introduce them to new cultures and themes, but it will also boost their language skills. Young children absorb and pick up new languages at much faster rates than teens and adults.
As your children grown and begin to recognize the differences between them and others, parents, caregivers, and educators have the unique responsibility to demonstrate kindness, care, sensitivity, inclusiveness, and respect towards all people and family units regardless of how they differ from us and our own experiences. Supporting diversity in and outside of the early childhood classroom allows children to feel good about themselves and exposes them to new positive experiences beyond their immediate lives.