“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.”
– Coretta Scott King
“Memories of our lives, of our works, and our deeds will continue in others.”
– Rosa Parks
How do you teach your children to be compassionate, to be tolerant and to celebrate diversity? Children learn from observing the reactions of their parents, other adults, and peers. Your family is your child's first and best teacher. Exposing children to different cultures, ethnicities, and religions at a young age will teach them to celebrate differences and respect diversity. The FamilyCares Celebrating Differences and Fostering Tolerance project will help your children understand that valuing diversity and caring about those in need will build a great community.
This activity is especially good for younger children to start a discussion about how one should treat differences and diversity. After you're done learning about the different kinds of apples, they make a healthy and nutritious snack!
Materials Needed:
- 3-4 different varieties of apples
- Magazine pictures of several different breeds of dogs or cats
- Magazine pictures of children of different races.
- Book from FamilyCares Celebrating Differences and Fostering Tolerance Book List
Steps Involved:
- Look at the apples. Discuss how they are similar and different in their appearance. Cut the apples up and taste them. How are they similar and different?
- Look at the pictures of the dogs. Discuss how they are similar and different.
- Look at the pictures of children. How are we similar and different?
- Take this time to read a story about a family from another culture. Discuss the similarities and differences in this family compared to your family.
Food for Thought
You can teach your children about diversity through the ingredients of the recipes below. Afterwards, share your creations with others: elderly neighbors, low-income after school programs or shelters.
Or, your family could join with other families and have a neighborhood bake sale and donate the money to a charity or organization that promotes diversity and tolerance. This year marks the 36th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the famed civil rights leader and nonviolent protester. Proceeds from your bake sale could go to Build the Dream.org at www.buildthedream.org, the organization building a memorial to Dr. King in Washington, D.C.
- Take your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and make “Earth Cookies.” Use vanilla and butterscotch chips in addition to chocolate, and use a mix of brown and white eggs. Point out to your children that although the eggs look different on the outside, they are the same on the inside, just like people. And, that the various colors of the chocolate chips mix together to make a tasty treat.
- Make a trail mix with lots of different ingredients: nuts, chocolate, cereal pieces, granola, and dried fruit all work well. Each piece has a different texture and taste and helps make the whole trail mix taste good. (If you plan to give your trail mix away, be mindful of peanut allergies.)
- Find recipes for authentic Southern food that Civil Rights freedom riders would have eaten for the first time. Gumbo, cornbread, and grits are all good examples of recipes that can be found in Mary C. Turck's book The Civil Rights Movement for Kids: A History with 21 Activities. (This book is very informative and relates activities to historical events.) Cook gumbo or bake cornbread and surprise a busy single parent, elderly neighbor or friend with a home cooked meal.
Diversity Quilt
Quilt making goes back almost 2,000 years and is believed to have originated in Asia. By the 19 th century quilting was not only an established folk art in America it was used to help slaves escape through the Underground Railroad. Different patterns of quilts hanging in windows were said to give slaves clues as to the safe path to freedom or being at a safe house.
Patchwork quilts consist of many diverse colors and sizes of material scraps. Individual scraps do not make a statement, but when sewn next to each other, they become a beautiful design. Besides being a work of art, quilts are practical. They warm and comfort children and adults. Your family can make a simple lap or crib quilt to comfort a child or adult.
Materials needed:
Diverse pieces of cotton fabric
A single piece of cotton for the back depending on the size and number of squares
Quilt batting for the middle
Quilt binding
Embroidery floss
Needles, thread and sewing machine
Steps involved:
- Decide who will receive your quilt. It can be as close as your neighbor or to a child across the globe. See Diversity Quilt Resources below.
- Choose the size of your quilt. A 36” by 48” will take 48 6” x 6” squares. You can cut the squares larger or smaller.
- Cut the fabric into the size square you want, sew the squares into pairs and the pairs into rows.
- Cut the back piece the same size as the quilt top.
- Cut the batting to fill the quilt – sandwich it in between the top and bottom and baste around the perimeter.
- To keep the batting in place – use the embroidery floss to make “knots” where the corners of the squares intersect.
- Deliver or mail your quilt. Include a card from your family.
Diversity Quilt Resources
Check local agencies to inquire if you could donate your quilt to someone in need
: hospitals, nursing homes, homeless and domestic violence shelters, and your local social services.
Or, send quilts to:
- Children in war-torn areas including orphanages, schools for the deaf, street children and trauma centers around the world : More Than Warmth www.morethanwarmth.org
- Children who are seriously ill in your community or in any state in America -- Project Linus at www.projectlinus.org
One World, One Heart Necklaces
Inspired by Hannah Bassewitz, the Young Hero profiled in the Fall 2005 issue of
Young Heroes magazine and Crossroads Elementary School in St. Paul, MN, the necklaces are an easy and creative way to show someone you care about them and about the world we live in. Make two necklaces, one for yourself and one for someone special.
Materials Needed:
Beads
String
Blue and green paper
Steps Involved:
- Gather different colored beads (diversity) and string. You can buy beads at the store or make your own using clay. If you make your own, remember to create a hole through the bead (using a toothpick) so you can put the beads on a string.
- Use blue and green construction paper to create a globe –a blue circle for the oceans on the Earth – overlaid with green paper continents.
- Punch a hole through the top of your globe so it can be strung onto your necklace. String the globe on and make the ends of your necklace even, so the globe sits in the middle of the necklace.
- Then, take your beads and string them on. Notice all the different shapes, sizes and colors that the beads make. Ask your children how all the different beads are like people in the world?
- Make your necklace long enough so it can slip on and off over your head easily. Then, tie the ends of the strings tightly together.
- Now you have a One World, One Heart necklace! Make another with your leftover beads and construction paper and give it to a friend.
FamilyCares Celebrating Differences and Fostering Tolerance
Book List
The Civil Rights History for Kids with 21 Activities by Mary C. Turck
Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold
If A Bus Could Talk by Faith Ringgold
My Dream of Martin Luther King by Faith Ringgold
The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
Autumn Street by Lois Lowry
My Name is Not Angelica by Scott O'Dell
Friendship and The Gold Cadillac by Mildred Taylor
The Witch of Blackbird Hill by Elizabeth Speare
Everywhere by Bruce Brooks
Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
Words by Heart by Quida Sebestyen
Sounder by Will Armstrong
The Star Fisher by Laurence Yep
Mississippi Bridge by Mildred Taylor
A Jar of Dreams by Yoshiko Uchida
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
