Anti-Bias Activity

My Family

Themes: Families, My People

Objectives: Recognize and celebrate one's own family

Materials: Large sheets of construction paper, skin-colored construction paper cut into people shapes, glue, crayons, or felt-tip markers.

Description: Introduce the topic of family. Define family as people we live with and love. Ask children to name their family. Invite the children to pick out a people shape for each person in their family, glue the shapes to the construction paper, and decorate the people. Offer to write the names of the family members on each child's paper. Display the children's family pictures or send them home.

Variations: 1. For older children, expand the definition of family. Include things such as family members who care for one another, do things together, and share responsibilities.

                    2. Older children could draw or paint a picture of their family rather than using the people shapes.

*Above are some of the materials that would be used in the activity*

      I chose this activity because it is very personable to the children and is a hands-on learning technique. By children participating in this activity, it can strengthen their self-identity and allow them to feel more comfortable with themselves. For example, the main objective from this activity is to recognize and celebrates one's family; by the children creating their own poster board and choosing the different ways to represent their family members artistically, will give the children a sense of belonging and pride. This activity can allow children to feel a sense of uniqueness and individuality by expressing the different ways and looks of their family members the way they perceive them.

 The appropriate age for "My Family" would be for three and four year olds. For example, according to the reading, "preschoolers get even better at noticing differences among people. They can name, identify, and match people according to their physical characteristics" (RW 17). This activity implements what is stated above perfectly, the description of the activity calls for the children to define physically their family members; and by the children picking out "people shapes" for their family members, this expressed how three and four year olds are getting better at noticing physical differences amongst people.  In addition, “young children are naturally curious about the world, which is why the preschool years are often referred to as the question-asking stage, preschoolers want to know about themselves and others” (RW 17). “My Family” activity demonstrates these questions three and four year olds are asking greatly, by the children artistically representing their family members allows them to learn more about themselves and by looking at their peer’s work can help them understand more about others as well.

The activity is a very appropriate theme for preschool children because it helps answer all there concerning questions during their development as three and four year olds. For example, “now their question is ‘why?’ which demonstrates their developing interest in the origin and function of things; for example, a four-year old may ask, ‘Where do people get their color?’ ‘Why are her eyes like that?’ ‘Am I yellow?’” (RW 17). The activity helps young children to answer these types of questions in their own ways. For example, it helps define the people they live with and recognize the differences between each person.

The activity also helps and connects to the goals for the Anti-Bias Curriculum. For example, the activity expresses the concept from Goal 1, which is “develop a positive, knowledgeable, and confident self-identity within a cultural context” (RW 138). The concept it represents is “recognize, appreciate, and respect the uniqueness, beauty, value, and contribution of each child” (Goals Handout). The activity allows each child to freely represent their families the way they perceive them and in the process, the children begin to appreciate and respect each individual beauty of each person. Another goal the activity meets is Goal 2, which is “demonstrate comfortable, empathetic interaction with diversity among people” (RW 139). The concept it represents is “introduce children to other cultures” (Goals Handout); not only during the activity does the children learn more about themselves and their family, but they have the opportunity to understand and visually see what their peers’ family member look like and are described as. The third and final goal the activity meets is from Goal 1, and the concept is “foster positive self-esteem and a positive self-concept in children” (Goals Handout). By the children choosing the different shapes and colors to represent their family members with, allows them to strengthen their self-esteem and feel a much sense of self-pride and belonging.

Some books that can help explain family even more is the children's book "The Family Book" by Todd Parr which "celebrates the many different types of families" (Amazon). 

           Another book that may introduce the different types of families is the children's book "Who's in a Family?" by Robert Skutch and illustrated by Laura Nienhaus. This story "has no preconceptions about what makes a family a family, with warm and inviting jewel-tone illustrations" (Amazon).