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| Multi-Cultural Puppets |
Michelle Pusich
HD25
Anti-bias
Activity for Preschool Children
Introducing anti-bias activities to
preschool children is a necessity to eliminate stereotypes, inform children
with factual information, and build community within the classroom. The
activity that I will describe is with puppets, for children from ages 3 to 4
years old. These puppets can be purchased or made. I would start with at least
two, and further add to the collection. There are many activities that can be
done with puppets, but this one in particular will be about physical
differences.
There are many questions children have concerning
physical differences such as: “What’s my color”? “What color are my eyes”?
“Where do you come from”? “Are my eyes going to get broken”? “Am I a handicapped”?
(RW, p.13). These questions must be answered openly and honestly to give
children accurate information, to eliminate stereotypical thinking, and to
teach them that everybody is uniquely different and special. Sometimes children
make hurtful statements such as: “You can’t play. You got brown skin”, “White
girls go first”, “You chink! Get out of my way”, and “We hate handicaps” (RW,
p.13) These statements are damaging to young children and must be addressed
immediately. Instead of just telling children they are not allowed to say these
things because they are hurtful, we as early childhood educators must teach
them to accept and embrace differences. We must assist them in developing
empathy for their fellow human beings.
This is an appropriate theme because in the
natural developmental process of preschool children, they begin to become aware
of human differences. “They can name, identify, and match people according to
their physical characteristics” (RW, p.17). When they ask questions, “If they
don’t know the answer or aren’t helped to think about it, they are likely to
make up their own distorted answer” (RW, p.17). “Young children’s thinking is
very limited, distorted, and inconsistent, which makes them susceptible to
believing stereotypes” (RW, p.17). This is the right time to assist them in
learning accurate information about differences, and to develop positive
attitudes of acceptance.
Three concepts that relate to my puppet
activity are: 1) People are different. 2) Everyone is important. 3) Everyone has
feelings.
The activity will start with gathering the
children to sit on the floor to engage in a puppet show. The teacher will sit
in a chair (so everyone can see) with two puppets, one on each hand. One puppet
will have light skin and the other will have darker skin. The teacher will
begin to act out a scenario with the puppets. The lighter skinned puppet (we
will call her Judy) will be singing and playing with a doll. The darker skinned
puppet (we will call her Mary) will approach the other puppet and ask, “What
are you doing”? Judy says, “I am playing with my doll, she is the baby and I am
the mommy, I am singing her a song”. Mary says, “Oh, can I play with you”? Judy
says, “No, my baby has light skin, you have brown skin so you can’t be her
mommy”. Mary is very upset; she hangs her head and begins to cry. Now the
teacher says to the children, “Children what do you think just happened here”?
The children respond with several different answers. They recognize that Mary
has gotten her feelings hurt because Judy won’t let her play. The teacher asks the
children more questions about why they think Judy doesn’t want Mary to play,
and listens to all the responses. The
children respond with, “Because she has brown skin”, “She can’t be the mommy
because she doesn’t have light skin”, and “Because she didn’t want her to take
her doll”. The teacher will restate the answers that the children thought of,
and add any she feels are appropriate. The teacher then asks the children, “How
do you think Mary felt when Judy told her no, she couldn’t play with her”? The
children respond with, “She was sad”, “She cried”, and “She felt really bad”. The
teacher asks the children how they would feel if they were Mary. They say, “I
would be sad, and I would feel bad”. The
teacher asks the children if they like it when someone causes them to feel bad
or sad. They answer with, "no". She asks them if they would like to agree upon trying
not to make others feel sad. She talks about trying to follow the golden rule. We
will try to treat others like we would like to be treated.
The teacher then says, “Let’s try and think
of some other things that Judy could have said to Mary. She listens to the
responses and helps them come up with some ideas that might have been nicer to
say to a friend. Such as, “Yes you can play”, or “Well, I would like you to
play but can you go get your own baby?”, or “Not right now I’m playing alone but
maybe later”. She uses this time to talk to the children about skin color. She
points out that each one of us looks different and none of us have the exact
same skin color. She talks about mommies and daddies and grandmothers and
grandfathers, and how they all look different and have different skin color,
but they still are mommies and daddies and grandparents. She explains that although
we are all different, each one of us is very important and special. She tells the children that we are unique
individuals, and though we are different, we are all part of the same human race. We share the same feelings inside.
Now the teacher reenacts the puppet show
incorporating the golden rule in the dialog. She uses the different ideas the
children came up with and adds more as the children come up with new ideas. They
brainstorm together to come up with several anti-bias and respectful ways to
communicate with each other. This activity will meet the anti-bias goals of:
1) Promoting respect toward others. 2) Increase children’s
ability to interact, talk, and play with people who are different from them. 3)
Help children live happily and cooperatively in a diverse world.
Infants by the age of around four months
can tell the difference between people they know and someone they have never
met. Toddlers at about fifteen to eighteen months old will start to identify
themselves as individuals. At this age they begin to imitate their parents. If
the parents are exhibiting any racial bias, the children may begin to display
this behavior themselves. By the age of two years children are noticing
specific physical characteristics about themselves and others such as skin
color, hair color, and gender. When children enter preschool at around three to
four years old they are getting even better at noticing differences among
people. At this age they are very susceptible to believing stereotypes. As
early childhood educators it is our duty to give them accurate information in a
language they can easily understand to help eliminate any stereotypical
thinking. We have to make a daily effort to have an anti-bias curriculum in our
classroom to teach children how to treat others with respect, fairness, and
empathy. By doing this we will help to build a strong community in our
classroom, and in turn prepare them for adulthood as they are faced with the necessity of getting along with others in our diverse world.
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| Multi-Cultural Puppets |
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| Anti-bias book |
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| Anti-bias book |
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| Anti-bias book |
Another idea for this activity is to use persona dolls.
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| Persona Doll Book |
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| Persona Dolls |
