Anti-Bias Classroom Activity - Ages 3-8
Portraits of Ourselves and Others
The activity I have created is Portraits. This activity will needs paper, paint, paintbrushes, and mirrors. It is geared towards children preschool through second grade, ages 4-8. The children will first look into a mirror and paint their portrait. They will be supplied with a wide variety of paints. At my local Lakeshore Learning Store they have a wide variety of paints that represent different skin tones. Some of the names would be cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa, fudge, caramel, hazelnut, cappucino, or peach. This was inspired by the Starting Small video about teaching tolerance. I would ask them to be as detailed as possible. They are encouraged to duplicate their reflection onto paper. They should spend a lot of time on it to really get the details right. This will allow them to take a deep look at themselves so they can gain the understanding of our differences. Next they would draw another child in the class. They are encouraged to spend just as much time on their friend. They will try to match their skin color the best with one of the paints, and get all the details in their face. Each week they would paint a different student. By the end of the school year each child will have a book that shows all their paintings of their friends.
This activity addresses several of the listed in the goals in the Goals For Anti-Bias Curriculum:
Anti-Bias Goals (York, pgs. 138-142)
This activity addresses several of the listed in the goals in the Goals For Anti-Bias Curriculum:
- Recognize, appreciate, and respect the uniqueness, beauty, value and contribution of each child.
- Promote respect towards others
- Provide children with a positive experience exploring similarities and differences.
- Teach children about their own culture
- Teach children about other cultures
- Encourage children to respect other cultures
- Teach children how to cooperate with others
- Help children live happily and cooperatively in a diverse world
Anti-Bias Goals (York, pgs. 138-142)
Goal 1: Develop a positive, knowledgeable, and confident self-identity within a cultural concept
Objectives met:
- Recognize one's own physical features
- Demonstrate positive sense of self-worth
- Demonstrate feelings of being special and unique
- Experience a sense of belonging in the classroom
- Recognize one's own value and contribution in the group
Goal 2: Demonstrate comfortable, empathetic interaction with diversity among people
Objectives Met:
- Appreciate physical characteristics of others
- Recognize human similarities/differences and develop positive attitudes toward them
- Recognize that human differences make people unique and special
- Show respect for all people
- Experience positive relationships with people who are different from oneself
Goal 3: Think critically about bias
Objectives Met:
- Recognize a stereotype
- Recognize prejudice
- Identify ways to respond to discrimination
- Recognize the importance of not making judgements on appearance
- Recognize that people within a group are not all alike
Goal 4: Stand up for oneself and others in the face of bias
Objectives Met:
- Contribute positively to the classroom and the community
- Work cooperatively with others
- Practice conflict-resolution skills
- Relate values and principle to action
- Participate as a group member and in group decision making
This would allow children to really look at others. They would notice their different skin tones, facial features, and hair color and texture. Asking them to paint the other children will allow them a hands on activity where they really have to pay attention to detail. They will get to know the other children in their class which will create friendships and help reduce prejudice. If they know more about their other classmates they will not be so quick to judge based on appearance. Children are able to notice differences in themselves and others at a very young age. “Multicultural education provides children with the message that it is all right to be different. Differences are good and people deserve to choose how they want to live” (York, pg. 134).
There are two books I found that helped show the importance of this activity.
The Colors Of Us by Karen Katz
This book is about a girl who wants to paint herself. She finds some brown paint for her skin. Her mother takes her out and she notices in her neighborhood that there are many different shades of brown. This book shows the differences and similarities of people from the eyes of a child. This is a great book to stimulate discussions about the differences in our skin. There are many different shades of white and brown. Everyone is unique.
The Skin You Live In by Michael Taylor
This book is simpler with a nursery rhyme feel. It is all about different colors of skin. They are labeled similarly to the colors of paint I was talking about. “Your coffee and cream skin, your warm cocoa dream skin...your chocolate chip, double dip sundae supreme skin!” It shows children doing things that everyone does. This shows that differences are noticeable but not a huge part of everyday lives. I would use this book right before I did the activity with the children because it gets them thinking about what ‘flavor’ of skin they have. Then when they get the paint they have many options to choose from.
Anti-bias education begins with “an anti-bias approach that helps children learn about diversity, gain respect and appreciation for diversity, learn to recognize and resist stereotypes and unfair behaviors, and learn to work with others to stand up for ones self or to challenge bias; anti-bias education is implemented through classroom materials and planned activities” (York, pg. 137).
I chose this activity because children notice differences. When they are young I believe the best way to teach them something is for them to learn through a visual point of view. If they look at a friend and paint their portrait with their own hands they are learning through visual and hands on stimulation. They will really notice the differences when they have to copy them with their own hands. “Children as young as toddlers develop preferences associated with skin color. By age three or four, white children begin to form negative attitudes about people who are different from them, and they develop a fairly high level or rejection of other ethnic groups, which remains consistent until at least age seven” (York, pg. 20).
It is so important to address children’s questions and concerns with honesty while telling them it is okay to be different. They notice these differences and wonder why it is that they are different. They are confused as to why someone is a different color than them and wonder if they will stay that color. Children can correctly identify their own color by age seven. Children of color do not usually form these rejecting feelings because they know what it is like to be different. They do begin to feel this after age seven though.
Children ages three to four are very susceptible to stereotypes. They are unsure what to believe and they can begin to believe what others tell them because they are so unsure of what they believe. They are also likely to make false associations or overgeneralize. If they see a Native american in a movie wearing cloth and headbands riding a horse they will think that all Native Americans look and dress like that and only ride horses. If they see an African American doing something violent on television they may feel scared or think all African Americans are bad people. It is important to confront children about these stereotypes and teach them that everyone is different and it is completely okay to be that way. Being different makes other people interesting. We should always want to learn about our differences and our similarities.
This activity is appropriate for ages four through eight. Between these ages they are noticing differences and wondering about them. They are able to study themselves and understand what they look like and how they are different or similar to their friends. This activity will show them how to notice differences and embrace them. If they are able to do that they will be able to set aside the stereotypes and learn about their friends not based on what they look like. I believe children in preschool through second grade could benefit from this activity. I often hear children comment to other children that their skin is different. I once heard a white child make a comment to another child that their skin was 'poopy' colored. I was so hurt for that child and tried to think of an activity that could really show them differences. I have not done this project with children but I plan on it when I get my own classroom.
Alternative Activities
Activity 1: Colored Stockings - PBS
This activity would start by setting out a variety of colored stockings. These colors would various colors of white, tan, and brown black, red, yellow, blue. I would have the children pull these up their arms and legs so they would have to try to find the one closest to their own skin tone. Then I would ask them to find one that is much darker or lighter than their skin tone and put them on. Then I would ask them how this made them feel. So they feel that they are the same person now? Do they still like to play soccer and gymnastics? Do they still like pizza and ice cream? This would be a way to get the children to put themselves in other peoples shoes. If they are able to hypothetically wear someone else’s skin color they would know what it feels like for their friends.
Activity 2: Brown Eyed, Blue Eyed - Jane Elliot
Jane Elliot broke her her third grade classroom down into two groups; the blue eyed and the brown eyed. The first day she treated the blue eyed worse then the brown eyed. She gave them less time to respond to questions, gave them harder questions, and did not listen to them. The blue eyed were treated as if they were dumb. They were not respected as much as the brown eyed. The brown eyed were given extra time to answer, given easier questions and treated like they were much smarter. The second day she switched and treated the brown eyed worse. They had been used to being treated so well. She started treating them worse. This activity taught the children first hand what prejudice feels like. They were able to see what it is like to be a young child and be different from your friends. It turned the friendships in the classroom for a day. From the beginning hours through 2 days the children who were best friends yesterday turned to two different people who were no longer friends. They even started to treat each other differently. It is amazing how fast they changed because of their new roles.
There are two books I found that helped show the importance of this activity.
The Colors Of Us by Karen Katz
This book is about a girl who wants to paint herself. She finds some brown paint for her skin. Her mother takes her out and she notices in her neighborhood that there are many different shades of brown. This book shows the differences and similarities of people from the eyes of a child. This is a great book to stimulate discussions about the differences in our skin. There are many different shades of white and brown. Everyone is unique.The Skin You Live In by Michael Taylor
This book is simpler with a nursery rhyme feel. It is all about different colors of skin. They are labeled similarly to the colors of paint I was talking about. “Your coffee and cream skin, your warm cocoa dream skin...your chocolate chip, double dip sundae supreme skin!” It shows children doing things that everyone does. This shows that differences are noticeable but not a huge part of everyday lives. I would use this book right before I did the activity with the children because it gets them thinking about what ‘flavor’ of skin they have. Then when they get the paint they have many options to choose from. Anti-bias education begins with “an anti-bias approach that helps children learn about diversity, gain respect and appreciation for diversity, learn to recognize and resist stereotypes and unfair behaviors, and learn to work with others to stand up for ones self or to challenge bias; anti-bias education is implemented through classroom materials and planned activities” (York, pg. 137).
I chose this activity because children notice differences. When they are young I believe the best way to teach them something is for them to learn through a visual point of view. If they look at a friend and paint their portrait with their own hands they are learning through visual and hands on stimulation. They will really notice the differences when they have to copy them with their own hands. “Children as young as toddlers develop preferences associated with skin color. By age three or four, white children begin to form negative attitudes about people who are different from them, and they develop a fairly high level or rejection of other ethnic groups, which remains consistent until at least age seven” (York, pg. 20).
It is so important to address children’s questions and concerns with honesty while telling them it is okay to be different. They notice these differences and wonder why it is that they are different. They are confused as to why someone is a different color than them and wonder if they will stay that color. Children can correctly identify their own color by age seven. Children of color do not usually form these rejecting feelings because they know what it is like to be different. They do begin to feel this after age seven though.
Children ages three to four are very susceptible to stereotypes. They are unsure what to believe and they can begin to believe what others tell them because they are so unsure of what they believe. They are also likely to make false associations or overgeneralize. If they see a Native american in a movie wearing cloth and headbands riding a horse they will think that all Native Americans look and dress like that and only ride horses. If they see an African American doing something violent on television they may feel scared or think all African Americans are bad people. It is important to confront children about these stereotypes and teach them that everyone is different and it is completely okay to be that way. Being different makes other people interesting. We should always want to learn about our differences and our similarities.
This activity is appropriate for ages four through eight. Between these ages they are noticing differences and wondering about them. They are able to study themselves and understand what they look like and how they are different or similar to their friends. This activity will show them how to notice differences and embrace them. If they are able to do that they will be able to set aside the stereotypes and learn about their friends not based on what they look like. I believe children in preschool through second grade could benefit from this activity. I often hear children comment to other children that their skin is different. I once heard a white child make a comment to another child that their skin was 'poopy' colored. I was so hurt for that child and tried to think of an activity that could really show them differences. I have not done this project with children but I plan on it when I get my own classroom.
Alternative Activities
Activity 1: Colored Stockings - PBS
This activity would start by setting out a variety of colored stockings. These colors would various colors of white, tan, and brown black, red, yellow, blue. I would have the children pull these up their arms and legs so they would have to try to find the one closest to their own skin tone. Then I would ask them to find one that is much darker or lighter than their skin tone and put them on. Then I would ask them how this made them feel. So they feel that they are the same person now? Do they still like to play soccer and gymnastics? Do they still like pizza and ice cream? This would be a way to get the children to put themselves in other peoples shoes. If they are able to hypothetically wear someone else’s skin color they would know what it feels like for their friends.
Activity 2: Brown Eyed, Blue Eyed - Jane Elliot
Jane Elliot broke her her third grade classroom down into two groups; the blue eyed and the brown eyed. The first day she treated the blue eyed worse then the brown eyed. She gave them less time to respond to questions, gave them harder questions, and did not listen to them. The blue eyed were treated as if they were dumb. They were not respected as much as the brown eyed. The brown eyed were given extra time to answer, given easier questions and treated like they were much smarter. The second day she switched and treated the brown eyed worse. They had been used to being treated so well. She started treating them worse. This activity taught the children first hand what prejudice feels like. They were able to see what it is like to be a young child and be different from your friends. It turned the friendships in the classroom for a day. From the beginning hours through 2 days the children who were best friends yesterday turned to two different people who were no longer friends. They even started to treat each other differently. It is amazing how fast they changed because of their new roles.
References:
Roots and Wings by Stacey York, 2003
The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler 2005
The Colors Of Us by Karen Katz 2002
PBS Activities by Barbara Biles
