Happy Mixed Heritage Week! We are kick off our celebrations with a fun way to discuss diversity with our kids. A simple diversity poster with mini photos drawn by your kids each one telling a story that leads to a discussion about family friends and heritage.
I sat with each one of the kids separately and gave them 1 12×12 piece of cardstock and 9 3×3 squares.
I started off our discussion with questions about what do you think makes you special? How is our family different? Let’s make a poster about all the things that make us who we are and different from everyone else!
The kids love alone time with me so there was no question they were going to love to talk to me. We sat with paper and writing tools. and each started to have a conversation with me.
Here is how each poster turned out. I let the kids lead the conversation because it’s important to hear what they believe is special and different. I explained that mom and dad are different too and that’s why we think it’s important to celebrate our families mixed heritage.
Little Man knew we came from different states but not countries. He knew dad and mom cook different foods tacos were his favorite from me and dads baked chicken was no question a win in his books to! He used brown to color himself and his skin color hand but when he described his friends he colored them according to the tables they sit in. I’ve met his friends who are both caucasian so it was intresting to see. He also colored our family with a black colored pencil but gave us no hair. It’s the little things we discussed that made this poster that much special. In his eyes there is very little different but to our family it is important to point our what makes us diverse and special!
Little Lady made sure to say mom speaks Spanish. It’s good to know that though I speak is on occasion and mostly over the phone with my family she knows the difference. She drew our family by height and made sure to tell me dad was the tallest that’s what made us different to her. Mom and dad cook different things but her favorite from me were sopa and chicken noodle soup dad of course had the winning chicken and pasta. Hair wasn’t a big deal to her as I thought it may have been when I asked her to draw herself she used one color and the only thing that stood out were her big eyes which honestly she has little ones but it’s fun to see how she views herself. Her skin color was a long discussion she was very firm on finding the perfect shade of brown. She didn’t settle she made it seem like she knew for certain the color that she matched because she clearly shared her thoughts on all the colors she was not!
This was a great way to learn more about my kids and also share more about diversity which leads into our mixed heritage. The way we cook, what we eat, how we talk, what we celebrate, what we feel is important, how we dress, how we comb our hair all is linked to our upbringing and heritage.
How do you discuss Diversity and Heritage with your kids?
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