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Children notice physical characteristics of others and develop attitudes toward human diversity
at a very young age. High-quality children’s literature is a helpful springboard to encourage
their awareness of differences and to develop their appreciation of uniqueness.
Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes, Cornrows,
and Curls: Building on Books to
Explore Physical Diversity With
Preschool Children
Kristen M. Kemple and Maria Lopez
Several children are playing in the dramatic play
corner, trying on the new collection of interesting hats
and looking at each other in the large mirror. Four-yearold David says to Heejeong (who is Korean), "You have
funny eyes."
Sophia and Tim join in, asserting, "Yeah, you look
funny. You're Chinese." Sophia, Tim, and David giggle
and make squinted-eye faces.
Ms. Shelton, who has witnessed this exchange, is
feeling awkward, uncomfortable, and concerned. She
says to the three laughing children, "That is mean. You
will make her sad. You three may not play with the hats
anymore." To Heejeong she says, "You can play with the
hats, honey, because you are a nice girl."
* * *
A group of 3-year-old girls is gathered at the sandbox
toward the end of the day. Isabel is biracial, Serena
is Hispanic, and Millie is white. Isabel's mother (who
is African American) briefly stops by the sandbox
to say "hi" before going inside to retrieve Isabel's
belongings. As she walks away from the sandbox,
Isabel's mom overhears one of the girls ask, "Why is your
mom's hair always all wrinkled?"
* * *
Red-haired, freckled Thomas' grandmother slathers
him with sunblock before leaving him on the
playground at his Head Start program. His AfricanAmerican classmate Dante comments, "You gotta have a
lot of that...you're white."
Winter 2009
Thomas scowls with exasperation, "Am not. I'm
beige. With dots."
Dante laughs, shaking his head, "Man, you are white,
white, white."
As Thomas stomps past Dante and a teacher, he
mutters, "Man, don't he have eyes?"
Young Children Are Curious
About Diversity
In each of these three scenarios, a young child has
noticed and commented upon an observable, physical
human difference related to race and/or geographical
origin. Children start to notice these differences at an
early age. Babies as young as 6 months old begin to
notice variations in skin color. By age 2, children begin
to ask questions about physical differences in others. By
age 9, children's attitudes toward diversity are solidified
Kristen M. Kemple, Ph.D., is Associate Professor, Early
Childhood Education, School of Teaching and Learning,
University of Florida, Gainesville. Her writing and research
focus on the social aspects of early childhood education. As
a teacher educator and former Head Start teacher, she has
worked with diverse children and parents.
Maria Lopez, M.Ed., is a teacher and administrator in
Miami, Florida, where she works with culturally diverse
children and families.
DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
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and generally do not change unless
altered by significant events (Wham,
Barnhart, & Cook, 1996).
It is really not surprising that children notice physical differences
among people very early in their
lives. Physical variations such as
skin color, hair color, and hair
texture (curly, straight, fuzzy) are
observable and tangible. They are
hard not to notice!
Young children see that dogs and
cats have tails and four legs, but
are different in other ways. They
notice at an early age that the things
adults call flowers actually come in
many shapes and colors. Just as
young children notice that humans
come in a range of sizes (babies, children, adults), they see that people
comein different shapes and colors as
well. Often, the characteristic that
children are quickest to recognize is
skin color. This certainly makes
sense...skin is the biggest observable
part of people!
During the early years, children
learn and grow at a rapid rate.
One of many important areas of
development during these years is
a sense of self. In early childhood,
the development of a positive selfidentity is closely related to how a
child feels about his or her physical
characteristics (Wardle, 1992).
In the preschool years, the observable physical self is an important
component of children's emerging
knowledge of self and of others.
Children's early awareness of self
is based on their own activities
and the results of those activities
(I can build a tower. I can knock
it down. I can make things happen!)
as well as on awareness of physical
categories and gradations of self
such as size, gender, hair color, and
skin color.
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Subjects & Predicates
It is really not surprising that children notice such physical differences among people
very early in their lives. Physical differences such as skin color, hair color, and hair
texture (curly, straight, fuzzy) are observable and tangible. They are hard not to notice!
Later in childhood, characteristics
such as likes, dislikes, and personality
traits become increasingly important
components of children's knowledge
of self and others as well. In the
preschool years, however, these less
tangible aspects of self are harder
for children to think about and
consider. When describing themselves
and others, young children tend
to focus on the concrete and the
DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
observable: On characteristics that
can be seen and touched (Damon &
Hart, 1988).
Respond to Curiosity
and Promote Respect
Early experiences can help children develop positive attitudes
toward persons of different racial
groups (Fry, 1994). Caring adults
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can sensitively respond to children's
natural curiosity about the differences
they observe among people. Adults
can help children explore their ideas,
curiosity, and feelings about physical
differences such as skin color, hair texture, and facial structure.
Guided opportunities to sort
through ideas and feelings can
help protect children from racist attitudes that can endanger their
self-concept and/or lead them to
reject those who are different from
themselves. A proactive, anti-bias
approach (Derman-Sparks and the
A.B.C. Task Force, 1990) can promote
the development of positive selfconcept and comfort in interacting
with a wide range of people. An
approach based not on color-blind
denial, but rather on color-filled
celebration, acknowledges that physical
differences do exist, and they are fine
and natural.
Reconsider the three scenarios
described at the beginning of this
article. In each of these situations,
how might a skilled teacher respond in
an open, supportive, way? How might
the adult acknowledge children's
natural curiosity, and facilitate positive
attitudes toward human diversity?
In the first case, for example, a
more helpful response may have
been, "Heejeong's eyes look different
from yours, don't they, David? She
has beautiful sloped brown eyes. You
have beautiful large blue eyes. How
about Sophia's eyes? Look in the
mirror, Sophia...you have two eyes
also! How do your eyes look?"
Because young children focus on
the concrete and the observable, and
because they are engaged in the
all-consuming work of making sense
of their world, children comment
upon and ask questions about those
differences. Their healthy curiosity
and questions cannot be ignored.
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Subjects & Predicates
Guided opportunities to sort through ideas and feelings can help protect children from
racist attitudes that can endanger their self-concept and/or lead them to reject those who
are different from themselves.
A proactive color-filled celebration approach seeks to
• enable children to develop ease with, and respect for, physical
differences
• help children become aware of the shared common physical
characteristics that make everyone human beings
• enable children to feel pride, but not superiority, about their racial
identity
• provide children with accurate, developmentally appropriate
information (Derman-Sparks, 1990)
Children use their inquiries to help
them sort out who they are, and how
they are the same as and different
from other people (Pulido-Tobiassen
& Gonzalez-Mena, 1999).
Taking an activist approach to
teaching respect for diversity means
that adults intentionally encourage
DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
children to talk about their curiosity,
rather than taking a passive, colorblind
denial stance. A proactive color-filled
celebration approach seeks to
• enable children to develop
ease with, and respect for,
physical differences
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• help children become aware
of the shared common physical characteristics that make
everyone human beings
• enable children to feel pride,
but not superiority, about
their racial identity
• provide children with accurate,
developmentally appropriate
information (Derman-Sparks,
1990).
Tools to Support
Children's Respect
for Diversity
In preschool classrooms, read-aloud
children’s literature that focuses on
physical and racial diversity can
stimulate exploration of differences in
physical appearance. Good books are
an engaging point of departure. They
can be used as a springboard from
which to launch conversation and
further learning experiences to support
children as they notice, make sense of,
and come to accept and celebrate the
ways in which people are both
different and alike. Children’s books
can be an important avenue for
shaping how children perceive others
who are different from themselves, as
well as how they view themselves
(Bainbridge, Panteleo, & Ellis, 1999;
Lee & Johnson, 2000; Mendoza &
Reese, 2001; Strasser, 2001).
The books for young children
presented here raise up for consideration, in a very active and direct
way, human physical differences
which are associated with race
and/or geographical origin including hair color and texture, skin
color, and facial structures. These
books met the following criteria:
• developmentally appropriate
for reading to groups of 3- to
5-year-old children
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Subjects & Predicates
Good children’s literature that is focused on physical and racial diversity can be used as
a springboard from which to launch conversation and further learning experiences to
support children as they notice, make sense of, and come to accept and celebrate the
ways in which people are both different and alike.
• representative of racially diverse
children
• photography or illustrations
that suggest children's individuality
• text that supports respect for
human differences
Several other good books depict
a variety of physical differences while
at the same time carrying a strong
message of human commonality.
A few "centerpiece books" are highlighted here as excellent examples
of the four categories of facial features, hair color and texture, skin
color, and human commonalities.
For each of these highlighted books,
a variety of learning extensions are
suggested. These explorations are
intended to spur teachers' own ideas
for building meaningful learning
DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
opportunities based on the book's
text and illustrations.
Following these examples is an
annotated bibliography of additional
high-quality books on this topic
(Table 1).
Facial Features
Centerpiece book
Intrater, R.G. (1995). Two eyes, a
nose, and a mouth. New York:
Scholastic. Illustrations by R.G.
Intrater.
This book begins, "Two eyes, a nose
and a mouth, they're the first things
that we see on millions and millions of
faces, from Tibet to Tennessee" (p. 1).
This visually delightful book goes on to
describe facial features captured in
close-up photographs of adults and
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Table 1. More good books about physical aspects of diversity
Adoff, Arnold. (1973). Black is brown is tan. New York:
HarperCollins. Illustrations by Emily Arnold McCully. The
poetic imagery of this classic book expresses the daily life of a
mixed-race family: "This is the way it is for us, this is the way
we are" (p. 3). Adoff speaks directly to a young child's concrete
sensibilities... "i am white the milk is white i am not the color of
the milk" (p. 11).
Cisneros, Sandra. (1994). Hairs—Pelitos. New York:
Knopf. Illustrations by Terry Ybanez. Ybanez' eye-catching
illustrations employ large spaces of bold color in this simple
bilingual book written in Spanish and English. The text and
illustrations describe, from a young child's perspective, the
diverse texture, color (and even smell) of family members'
hair (Mama's hair "is the warm smell of bread before you
bake it"/"es el olor tibro a pan antes de hornearlo") (p. 7).
Davol, Marguerite. (1993).
Black, white, just right. New
York: Whitman. Illustrations
by Irene Trivas. In this upbeat
book, a child describes the different appearances, habits,
preferences, and interests of
the members of her mixedrace family, noting at the end of
each page that each is "just
right."
Fox, Mem. (1997). Whoever you are. New York:
Harcourt, Brace. Illustrated
by Leslie Staub. Richly
colored, bold primitive-style oil
paintings depict children and
families from around the
world. Although the intense
hues of the illustrations vary
from page to page, the sky color is identical from picture to
picture and place to place. This book carries the theme of
how people are different yet basically the same, and reminds
readers that "joy is the same and love is the same, pain is the
same and blood is the same" (pp. 22-23).
Hooks, Bell. (1999). Happy to be nappy. New
York: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion. Illustrated by Chris
Raschka. An ode to the versatility of nappy hair, Happy To Be
Nappy is filled with simple watercolor renderings of girls in
various shades of brown. The representations of hair are not
meant to be realistic, but the artistic style in which they are
created (strokes, squiggles, and curls of black over wet color
wash) is intriguing. With a little adult guidance, children can
try this experimental painting process. Raschka's hair strokes
bleed out into the wet paper, creating fuzzy, nappy, interesting effects.
Winter 2009
Hooks, Bell. (2004). Skin again. New York: Jump at the
Sun/Hyperion. Illustrated by Chris Raschka. In bold
cartoon illustrations, children of different colors are shown on
the "outside" and then explored on the "inside." The
message is that while skin is the wrapping, "if you want to
know who I am, you've got to come inside" (p. 4).
Kissinger, Katie. (1994). All the colors we are: The story
of how we get our skin color/Todos los colores de nuetra
piel. MN: Redleaf Press. Photographs by Werhner Krutein.
Simple explanations (in both English and Spanish) of the three
ways people get their skin color: From ancestors, the sun, and
melanin in the skin. While the full explanation is beyond the
grasp of most 3- to 5-year-olds, this book can help them begin
to form a rudimentary understanding of the origins of skin
color. Includes information for adults and developmentally
appropriate learning experiences to accompany the book.
Pinkney, Sandra. L.
(2000). Shades of black: A
celebration of our children.
New York: Scholastic. Photographs by Myles C.
Pinkney. "I am Black. I am
unique" (p. 2). While all the
children
pictured
and
described in this book are
considered to be black,
they represent a very wide
spectrum of shades of brown
skin.
Hair
color,
hair
texture, and eye color are
described in evocative and
challenging language such
as "the shimmering glow
of ebony in an onyx" (p. 22).
Subjects & Predicates Myles Pinkney's photography showcases individual
children's spirits in uniquely beautiful and natural facial
expressions.
Pinkney, Sandra L. (2002). A rainbow all around me.
New York: Scholastic. Photography by Myles C. Pinkney.
With
the
exception
of
the
repeated
refrain
(“Colors are you. Colors are me.” [pp. 10, 18, 26]), the text of
this book describes the bright colors of the rainbow. Myles
Pinkney's compelling close-up photography, however,
celebrates a wide diversity of children of different ethnic
origins. The book closes with, "Colors colors they're in
everything I see. We are in the rainbow—you and me!" (p. 32).
Thomas, Pat. (2003). The skin I'm in: A first look
at racism. New York: Barrons Education Series.
Illustrated by Lesley Harker. Written by a counselor and
psychotherapist, this book is designed to spark and encourage conversation—among families, children, and teachers—
about skin color and other observable racial differences.
DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
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children of various racial and ethnic
backgrounds. Readers are encouraged
to "imagine how dull the world
would be if everyone looked like you
or me" (p. 15).
Extended learning possibilities
Aren't we beautiful! Take a closeup photograph (face only) of each
child in the class. Encourage children
to describe their own photographs,
and with the help of a volunteer, write
down the words children dictate. Post
photos, names, and self-descriptions
on a bulletin board or poster titled
"Two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. Aren't
we beautiful!" This is a good beginning-of-the-year experience to help
children learn one another's names,
feel a part of the class, and celebrate
their differences and commonalities.
Feature graphing. Help children
recognize the different eye shapes,
eye colors, facial shapes, or other
characteristics represented within the
class. Create a wall graph to show
how many children have blue eyes,
green eyes, almond-shaped eyes, a
heart-shaped or oval face, and other
features. Use the graph to help
children solve simple math problems,
such as figuring out more than and
fewer than: Are there more children
in the class with blue eyes or with
brown eyes? Are there more children
in the class with brown eyes or with
"not-brown" eyes?
Baby faces. The video "Baby
Mugs" (MVP, 1994) is a delightful
celebration of babies and their many
shapes and colors. This video has no
words…only a soothing musical
background and footage of individual
babies mugging for the camera.
Preschoolers are captivated by babies
and baby faces, and will probably
offer spontaneous comments about
the babies they see. Viewing the
video could be combined with the
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"aren't we beautiful" ideas by having hair the color of chestnuts." "Carl has
children bring in and self-describe hair like autumn leaves."
Grouping and sequencing. Chaltheir own baby pictures, which could
lenge children to sort themselves in
be added to the bulletin board.
order from lightest to darkest hair (or
vice-versa). Children can also be
Hair color and texture
challenged to organize themselves
Centerpiece book
Hamanaka, S. (1994). All the colors into hair-type groups: Curly, straight,
of the Earth. New York: Morrow. wavy, long, medium-length, short,
and other descriptors. If there is
Illustrations by S. Hamanaka.
Through verse and soft, light- sufficient diversity, children may
filled oil paintings, this book cele- even be able to create simple "people
brates outward physical differences of patterns" such as: Straight, straight,
hair color and texture and skin color, curly. Straight, straight, curly.
while suggesting the basic ways in
which children everywhere are
similar in needing and deserving
love. "Children come in all the colors
of love, in endless shades of you and
me" (pp. 17-18).
Extended learning possibilities
Like silk, sunlight, and chestnuts. Hair is described in this book
through comparison to elements of
nature: Hair like flowing water, like
curled sleeping cats, in colors of the
late summer grasses and fallen leaves.
On an outdoor walk or visit to a
natural area, encourage children to
look for things in nature that are similar to their hair. Upon return to the
classroom, children record their
discoveries with writing, drawing,
collages, sculpture, and/or dictation.
Class rainbow. Using a combination of multicultural and regular
crayons, markers, or paints, encourage
children to select or mix a color that
matches their own hair color.
Children can use their individually
selected color to create a "stripe" on a
class rainbow bulletin board. This
could also be done for skin color.
Combine this learning experience
with the silk, sunlight, and chestnuts
explorations by writing children's
descriptions along the stripe of the
rainbow, for example, "Marsha has
DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
Intentionally encourage
children to talk about
their curiosity.
Skin color
Centerpiece book
Katz, K. (1999). The colors of us.
New York: Henry Holt. Illustrations by K. Katz.
Lena's mom, an artist, is teaching
her to mix colors. On a neighborhood walk, they notice the different
shades of brown reflected in the skin
of the friends they meet...cinnamon,
ginger, peanut butter, chocolate,
peach, honey, bronze, chili powder,
coffee, toffee. Lena uses her newfound
discoveries to create a collection of
portraits done in "the colors of us.”
Extended learning possibilities
"Me" puppets. Children create
their own persona puppets by choosing from an array of craft
materials. Using sturdy tag board or
cardboard, adults can precut facial
shapes or full-body "gingerbread
person" forms.
Children glue a form to a craft
stick as a handle, select or mix multicultural paint colors to color the
skin of their puppets, and add hair.
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Possible materials to include in the
“hair” selection are embroidery floss
in various shades, curling ribbon,
yarn, and string. Colorful chenille
stems can be twisted into a wide
variety of waves, curls, and kinks—
or used straight for spikes.
Completed puppets can be used
as props that children use to tell
about themselves. Persona puppets
can become part of a classroom puppetry center and provide an avenue for
children to re-enact real-life classroom
"dramas.” With teacher support and
guidance, this may lead to use of
puppets as a problem-solving tool
when facing conflict or challenging
situations.
"You" puppets. The same materials can be used to create puppets or
portraits of friends or family members,
perhaps to honor people or be given
as gifts.
Funny faces. Take a close-up
black and white photograph of each
child. Enlarge and print each photo
on copy paper. Children can then
color themselves using multicultural
markers, crayons, or oil pastels. Try
making multiple copies, so children
can try out different colors on themselves...What would I look like with
green eyes? Darker skin? Curly hair?
At greater expense (but less use of
paper), copy black and white photos
onto transparencies.
Human commonalities
Centerpiece book
Ajmera, M., & Ivanko, J.D. (1999).
To be a kid. Durham, NC: SHAKTI
for Children. Illustrations by various photographers.
Through colorful photographs
and simple text, To Be a Kid identifies
many commonalities of childhood.
To be a kid means...spending time
with family, learning new things,
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playing ball, sharing music, creating
art, and acting silly. Each page shows
photographs of children of various
races, cultures, and nations engaged
in the same basic activities.
This book is an interesting example of the interdependence of text
and illustrations: The message of
diversity is carried through the
photographs, while sameness is conveyed through words. For example,
page 13, that carries the words, "To
be a kid means playing ball," also
shows photographs of children of
diverse physical appearances in India,
Cuba, Mexico, and Antigua and
Barbuda, all engaged in different
kinds of ball games in diverse
neighborhood settings.
Celebrate the ways in
which people are both
different and alike.
The final two pages of the book
provide further information about
ways that basic elements of most
children's lives (family, school,
recreation and play, arts, animals,
fun, and friends) are in some ways
different from place to place, yet are
essentially the same.
Extended learning possibilities
Alike AND Different. To Be
a Kid differs from the other three
books described, in that the essential
theme of the text is not physical
diversity. The diverse appearances
of the children are, however, highlighted through the book's vibrant
photography.
A useful book that extends upon
this theme of diversity within
fundamental sameness is A Cool
Drink of Water (Kerley, 2002), a
photographic essay that shows
DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
people of many cultures and races
pouring, transporting, and enjoying
drinking water.
A series of photograph books by
Morris about topics such as bread
(1993a), hats (1993b), and shoes
(1998) illustrate the many different
ways people from around the world
design and use common basics of life.
These books can serve as a starting
point for conversation with small
groups of children. For example, a
teacher might begin, “We are all
wearing shoes. How are our shoes
alike? How are they different?”
Universal music. A wonderful
CD to connect with the books
described here is "The world sings
goodnight" (Various artists, 1993). It
is a collection of authentic lullabies
from around the world, sung in
native languages by native voices and
accompanied by native instruments.
It is soothing music to play at nap or
rest time. The concepts (around the
world, people all sleep and have
special songs for sleep time, and these
songs each have their own special
sound) can be explored at another
time by asking children if there
are songs their families sing to them
at bedtime.
"Like You and Me" is a recorded
song appropriate for young children
that emphasizes commonalities
among children of various cultures
(Raffi, 1985). The words introduce
listeners to children's names with
which they may be unfamiliar (Meja
lives in Kenya. Pierre lives in France),
and choruses that each child is
"a very special son or daughter, a lot
like you and me" (unpaged).
After children are familiar with
the music, create piggyback or zipper
songs with them using children
in the class as examples. Sing the
song together, inserting children's
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and that illustrate and celebrate (but
do not necessarily take as a central
focus) human physical differences
and similarities.
As children grow through the
early childhood years, they become
increasingly aware of less directly
observable differences and similarities
among people: culture, abilities,
personality, and other differences.
Young children focus on
They begin to develop awareness of
the concrete and
and curiosity about increasingly subtle
observable.
attributes such as economic differences, diversity in family composition,
Bulletin board. As a group, create and how families live (Pulidoa poster list with children's suggestions Tobiassen & Gonzalez-Mena, 1999).
Provide children with literature and
of ways that class members look alike
(for example, we all have hair [if this is other learning materials (such as puztrue], we all have eyes, we are all small- zles, puppets, dolls, pretend play
er than grown-ups). The next day, add props) that help them explore how
a list of children's suggestions of ways others speak, eat, dress, play, work, and
they differ from one another (different carry out family roles. These items
eye colors, skin colors, height, and help children become more aware of
other attributes). On a third day, list the cultural differences and similarities
other ways children are the same (we that reflect people's ethnic identities,
all like to play, we all sleep, we all eat, and encourage children to move
we all have ideas). On days four and beyond noticing the physical dimenfive, create a bulletin board with chil- sions of how people look, to consider
dren. Show how the children in the the ways people think, act, and live.
Books that highlight physical
class fall into selected areas of difference (for example, hair color, skin differences such as skin color, facial
color, eye color, or gender). Around appearance, and hair color—and
the border of the bulletin board, post learning experiences that extend those
children's decorated or illustrated observations—are an important and
developmentally relevant early step
statements of commonality.
toward exploring more complex
social studies concepts and attitudes
Beyond These Books
related to race, ethnicity, culture,
The books described in this article
and diversity.
directly lend themselves to addressing
young children's interest and curiosity
about physical differences due to race References
and/or geographical original. These Ajmera, M., & Ivanko, J.D. (1999). To be a
kid. Durham, NC: SHAKTI for Children.
books represent only one type of
Bainbridge, J.M., Panteleo, S., & Ellis, M.
literature that early childhood teachers
(1999). Multicultural picture books:
can use to help children to be acceptPerspectives from Canada. Social Studies,
ing of and comfortable with diversity.
90(4), 183-188.
Education for diversity can and Damon, W., & Hart, D. (1988). Selfunderstanding in childhood and adolescence.
should also include high-quality mulNew York: Cambridge University Press.
ticultural books that tell good stories,
names and their country of origin, or
insert children's names and a current
street name, neighborhood name, or
other words, and keep the chorus the
same. Teachers could also insert a
favorite activity named by each child,
for example, "Carolee likes to dance,
Sami likes to build."
30
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DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
Derman-Sparks, L., and the A.B.C. Task
Force (1990). The antibias curriculum:
Tools for empowering young children.
Washington, DC: National Association
for the Education of Young Children.
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Put These Ideas Into Practice!
Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes, Cornrows, and Curls: Building on Books
to Explore Physical Diversity With Preschool Children
Kristen M. Kemple and Maria Lopez
Prompt conversation among teachers
Use the article’s three opening vignettes as conversation starters. Discussion
leaders may ask questions such as these:
• Why might children say these things?
• What comments have you overheard children make regarding
physical diversity?
• How have these comments made you feel? What have these
comments made you think?
• How can situations such as these be used as opportunities for learning
about, and developing positive attitudes toward, human diversity?
Extend children’s learning
Study nature
Many elements in nature are both alike and
different—not just humans! How can adults
encourage children to consider the concept of
differences within commonality? For example,
examine and discuss the similarities and differences among rocks, leaves, and
flowers. The possibilities are endless!
Explore the visual arts
Art supplies—paint, paper, crayons, modeling compound—are available in
natural tones of human hair and skin. Children can celebrate the human rainbow
in drawings, paintings, sculpture, and collage. Toddlers’ art will be primarily
expressive as they mix colors and compare and contrast hues. Older children’s
explorations may be representational, such as puppets or self-portraits.
Study children’s books
A Rainbow All Around Me
All the Colors of the Earth
All the Colors We Are:
The Story of How We Get Our Skin Color
Black Is Brown Is Tan
Black, White, Just Right
Hairs—Pelitos
Happy to Be Nappy
Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children
Skin Again
The Colors of Us
The Skin I’m In: A First Look at Racism
To Be a Kid
Two Eyes, a Nose, and a Mouth
Whoever You Are
• Brainstorm ways to use these
and similar books as discussion
starters with teachers and
children.
• With colleagues, explore how
these books can be used to
make connections to other
areas of the curriculum
including art, music, and science.
Note: Dimensions of Early Childhood readers are encouraged to copy this material for early childhood students as well as teachers of young children as a professional development tool.
Winter 2009
DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
Volume 37, Number 1
31