Let's Talk About Race Toolkit: Activity Guide

Positioning Yourself

 

To promote understanding, comfort, and joy with human diversity, teachers and caregivers need to have some degree of self-awareness and comfort with race and other forms of diversity. The resources accompanying this kit - as well as some of the books themselves - contain background reading and useful reflections for adults leading these conversations. In addition, we recommend exploring these and other questions while preparing for the extension activities.

 

How do you self-identify? This “Wheel of Privilege and Power” graphic can be a useful 
tool to help locate yourself. 

  • How has your position in these categories shaped your experiences?
  • Are you comfortable talking about the colour of your own skin? 
  • How do you feel talking about physical differences between yourself and others?

 

 

 

The Wheel of Privilege and Power is a wheel with 13 sections that look at a factor such as housing, education, skin colour, gender etc. The person using the wheel has three choice within each section to help determine their level of privilege. For example under "skin colour" the choices are white, different shades or dark.

Managing Difficult Conversations1


Children, particularly young children, do not yet have the vocabulary to describe their thoughts and feelings. Observing their body language and behaviour for cues will be particularly important when discussing new and potentially sensitive topics like race. 
When you talk with children about race:

  • Listen carefully
  • Ask questions
  • Respond with simple, straightforward answers
  • Check to see what the child has understood and is feeling
  • Proceed in small steps
  • Provide non-verbal means of checking in - particularly with groups 
  • Be aware that some conversations can be difficult for children who may already have experienced racism or other forms of exclusion. It is important to validate their experiences.

 

1  Adapted from "Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves", Second Edition.

Baby and Toddler (Ages0-2)

 
Activity: Description: Materials Needed:
My Skin, Your Skin Visual exposure to racial differences using images of babies and toddlers
  • Books in the Let’s Talk About Race toolkit
Scarves Find the closest match to your baby/toddler’s skin tone and place it on their arms or legs. Switch it out with other toned scarves to explore what different skin tones look like!
  • Skin-toned scarves can be found in the kits

Preschool (Ages 3-5)

 
ACTIVITY: DESCRIPTION: MATERIALS NEEDED:
Melanin Match Using makeup in neutral (skin-tone) shades, invite the child to pick out the one that is closest to their own skin. Then, see which one matches parents, relatives, and friends! This is a great way to introduce the word “melanin” and what it means Foundation, lipstick, or eyeshadow in skin shades
Paper on which to smear makeup
Plastic file protectors (optional, to prevent child from smudging makeup)
Different but the Same Find images, objects or toys that look different but are the same (e.g. “This doll has curly hair and green eyes but has ten fingers just like you”). Dolls, stuffed animals
Trucks, balls
Fruit (e.g. apples in different colours)

Elementary/Primary (Ages 6-8)

 

ACTIVITY: DESCRIPTION: MATERIALS NEEDED:
Word Wall Celebrate the different languages in your community by creating a Word Wall of keywords and phrases in your home or classroom. Children should feel empowered to select words that are important to them and add new additions to the wall on an ongoing basis.
  • Designated wall space
  • Chart paper, poster board, construction paper, sticky notes, etc.
  • Writing utensils

Colours of the World Handprint Wreath

(Inspired by Little Bins for Little Hands)

 Provide children with paper in a variety of skin tones (black, deep brown, light brown, white, etc.). Invite them to trace their hand on multiple colours and arrange cut-outs into a wreath shape.
  • Paper in a variety of skin tones 
  • Pencils/markers to trace
  • Scissors
  • Glue, tape, or ribbon and hole-punch (to lace hands together)
  • Paper plate (optional; to be used as foundation of wreath shape)
Holidays in our Homes, Holidays around the World Display a calendar showcasing holidays from around the world. Invite students to share the holidays they celebrate and discuss cultural customs and traditions. When possible, celebrate special occasions in your home or classroom with music, games, food, etc.
  • Calendar (or chart paper, poster board, etc.)
  • Markers

Elementary-Junior (Ages 9+)

 

ACTIVITY: DESCRIPTION: MATERIALS NEEDED:

Identity Art

Outcome:
Children’s awareness and appreciation for what makes them unique and similar to others is increased.

1. Children lie down on flip-chart paper or another surface, and work with partners to trace outlines of their body shapes. 


2. They then decorate their outlines to showcase their uniqueness using visible characteristics (like clothing and style), as well as at least one item not easily visible to others (music they love, languages they speak or experiences they’ve had). Encourage children to be as creative as possible, and to use colours and designs that appeal to them. 


3. Invite children to walk around and appreciate each other’s creations. 


4. When finished, ask the group to share their reflections about the similarities and differences they saw. 


5. Key Reflections to explore with the group: 

  • We are all different on the outside, and these differences can shape our experiences. 
  • While everyone looks different, we are all still part of the human family. It’s these differences that make our world interesting and beautiful. 
 Crayons or chalk
Flip-chart paper
Crafting materials: stickers, glitter, glue, pencil crayons, paint & brushes
Processing Stories Non-verbally

A. Naming Emotions (30 minutes):
1. Mount the feelings poster in a place easily accessible to the whole group, and provide each child with dot stickers. Read the story, pausing every few pages to invite children to place a dot on the feeling that best describes their response to the story to that point.


2. Debrief by discussing where dots clustered, whether there were emotions that were not named, how their feelings changed through the course of the story, and how they felt at the end. 


B. Processing the Story through Art (60 minutes):
1. Teach children how different painting styles (colours, lines, shapes, and strokes) can convey feelings. See “How to Draw Your Feelings” video for a good introduction. 


2. Ask children to paint freestyle while you re-read the story aloud. When you are done, invite them to walk around and appreciate the drawings/ paintings of the rest of the group. 


3. Debrief by inviting children to share:

  • how their drawings look
  • how they compare to others’ drawings
  • how their artwork changed during the course of the story
  • the reasons behind their artistic choices

Activity A:

 

 

Activity B:

 

Key Terms

 

Activism - Taking action against injustice.

 

Anti-racism - The work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in political, economic, and social life. Anti-racism tends to be an individualized approach, and is set up in opposition to individual racist behaviors and impacts.

 

Colourism - Colourism refers to discrimination based on skin colour. Colourism disadvantages dark-skinned people while privileging those with lighter skin.

 

Discrimination - The unfair, unequal and unjust treatment of people.

 

Equality - Equality is commonly defined as providing the same opportunities for everyone.

 

Equity - Recognizes historical and contemporary oppression and acknowledges that different communities require different types and levels of support to succeed and survive. To achieve equity, policies, and procedures may require unequal distribution of resources to redress disparities and disadvantages and achieve equal outcomes.

 

Ethnicity - The social and cultural groups one belongs to on the basis of shared traditions, ancestry, language, history, nation, religion, etc.

 

Fairness - When everyone gets what they need and things are equal and just for all people.

 

Melanin - The natural colouring of your skin. It helps to protect your skin from the sun.

 

Marginalized - Membership in a group or community that experiences discrimination and exclusion and has less power in society.

 

Microaggressions - Negative words and/ or negative actions from people who are members of the dominant culture toward people who are not part of the dominant culture.

 

Oppressions - When one group of people believes that they are better than another and abuse their power against the second group.

 

Prejudice - A preconceived judgment or opinion, usually based on limited information.

 

Race - The categorizing of humans into different groups based on perceived physical differences.

 

Racism - Racism is a system of advantages based on race.

 

Systemic Racism - A historical and present system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial inequity.

 

Stereotypes - A widely held, oversimplified idea about a type of person or group.

 

White Privilege - Privilege refers to the unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits, and choices bestowed on people solely because they are white.

 

Source: JEWELL, TIFFANY. Antiracist Kid: A Book about Identity, Justice, and Activism. Harper Collins, 2022.

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