Baby Pictures

Every child looks different. Every child comes from a different culture and a different part of the world. I think one of the best ways to explore this with preschoolers is by the activity “Baby Pictures”. All you need is baby photographs of each child as well as a current photograph of each child. During circle time, tell the children you have pictures of them as babies. Say, “I’m going to hold up the baby pictures, on at a time. Look at it carefully and see if you can guess who it is.” When the children make a guess, ask them to explain their reasoning. Then set out all the baby photos and all the current photos and allow the children to match the baby to the current. You may then make copies, putting copies on index cards, and make a memory matching game out of it. You then may post the baby picture and current picture side by side on a bulletin board in the classroom. “As a teacher, you have a lot of control over the environment” (York 52). In putting these up around the classroom it helps to promote a non racist classroom. An extension to add to this activity is baby photos and current photos of the staff. The objective of this activity is to help children recognize and celebrate everyone’s physical features, as well as help each child feel unique and special in their own way. The theme of this activity is bodies, families, and our class. This is an appropriate theme for preschool aged children because it teaches them to learn about different features on different bodies, how different families look and their cultures, and the differences and similarities between their classmates and friends. This is a wonderful way to teach children about diversity, in a non stereotypical way! The children may have many different responses to this activity, especially when they explain why they chose which pictures to match. They may talk about the different features like eye shape, color of the hair and skin. Some children may blurt out stereotypical remarks, and it is a great time to correct them. Other children may have a hard time participating because they just can’t picture their friends as a baby. This activity will help children “learn about human diversity, gain respect and appreciation for diversity, learn to recognize and resist stereotypes and unfair behavior, and learn to work with others to stand up for oneself or to challenge bias” (York 137). There are many anti-bias activity goals. For one, this activity will help children Recognize, appreciate, and respect the uniqueness, beauty, value, and contribution of each child. Children will be able to identify each baby and talk about all the features of that precious child. They will be able to realize that each photo is different and beautiful in its own way. This activity will also provide children with a positive experience exploring similarities and differences. This will also help children work as a group and cooperate and communicate with others to match photos. This is also a great activity to increase children's ability to interact, talk and play with people who are different from them. I don’t know if there is a better way than to set out baby photos and current photos and allow children to talk about their differences and similarities. In conclusion, a wonderful way to teach children diversity in an anti-bias way is to look at baby photos and current photos of the children and talk about them. Children learn best when you do activities that interest them. What more fun could preschoolers have then to match their friend’s baby photos to current ones and talk about their features? While doing this, the class can talk about each individual child and what makes them unique and special. Friends can tell friends the features they like about each other. Two books to go along with this activity are, David's Drawings by Cathryn Falwell and Colors Come from God . . . Just Like Me! By Carolyn A. Forché.