I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Martin Luther King Jr.1963
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is next Monday. It is never too early to teach your children to celebrate our differences. MLK Jr. stood for peace and equality. He was a very good man.
Today I taught my daughter that sometimes people have different hair or different colored skin and that it’s okay. I read her a very simple board book about MLK Jr. (listed in the link below) We also read one of my favorite books by Todd Parr (If you don’t own his books, hurry up and buy some :)) It’s Okay To Be Different.
Thanks to Pinterest, I found this painting activity to point out differences in skin color. We added hearts! I told her MLK Jr. made good choices. That was language that she understood!
If you’ve been a follower of my blog, you know I teach my children lessons through good literature, crafts, cooking, games, and conversations. I haven’t told you the other trick up my my sleeve….You Tube. I like to find short video clips that go along with what I am teaching my daughter. For example, last week I taught her about Chinese New Year and that this is the year of the dragon. We watched Chinese New Year parades in China with beautiful dancing dragons and lions. Below are a few short clips to teach your child about differences. Warning: Always preview the videos. I once showed R a nursery rhyme without previewing it and it was just wrong!
This one is funny, it’s the Sesame Street Cows-Different yet the same
Who doesn’t love Kermit and Cookie Monster? Here they are in a video together about differences.
Here is a Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Video for children grades 1-5
And another educational video for older children Grades 6-8
The MLK Jr. artwork photo is from Pinterest. It makes me smile 🙂
Check out the list of books below for suggestions on teaching children about celebrating the differences in others!