01/09/2020
In order to have conversations about racism and the construct of race we need to give our children an understanding about skin colors and why the skin we live in is different to begin with. We have learnt that suggesting to children that they ignore people’s skin color or dismiss differences with the objective of teaching them about our inherent oneness and unity, can actually be detrimental as it does not prepare our children for the complexities that surround the topic. Allowing our children to explore differences in our skin color and to ask questions of us gives them a a solid foundation to build a proper understanding of diversity and our inherent oneness. It can also give our children the tools that are necessary in identifying biased messaging.
Please note: The activity is an aid to open space for communication and questions.
Activity: A beautiful community
1. Let’s create a beautiful community! A beautiful community is diverse. To make the members of the community you can use cardboard, paper or air drying clay.
2. Cut out 1 paper person template and use it to create 6/7 more in your chosen medium puncture a hole into the hands to allow for connecting them.
3. Using various shades of paint or coloring pencils, making sure to include a variation, color and paint the people whilst discussing, some potential discussion points: why do you think our skin colors are different? After children answer, talk further and explain melanin. Can you identify which is your skin color? Are the skin colors in our family exactly the same? Do you know anyone who has skin color that is different to yours? Do you think this community would be as beautiful if we only used one color? Why?
4. Once dry assemble by joining the people together, potential discussion points: how can we make sure people who look different in our community are connected in a meaningful way? If our community is not beautifully diverse like this one, what can we do to change that?
