Anti Bias Activity

Anti Bias Activity: It’s me!

For this assignment I chose and activity called It’s me. The materials that are needed for this activity:

·      Small Unbreakable Mirrors

·      Skin tone colored paints

·      Markers or Crayons

·      Construction/Drawing Paper

To do this activity you first give each child a mirror and allow them to observe themselves. As the teacher it is your job to help them notice and name some of their physical characteristics. For example, “ you have brown short hair. You have blue eyes and blonde hair.” Once they are finished with that have the children draw a self-portrait of themselves and encourage them to use the characteristics that you just talked about. They can look in the mirror as many times as they need to help them remember. At the end have children share their portrait. Other children might ask questions like. “Why is his/her hair so curly, or why is her/his skin color darker then mine?” This activity really gets children thinking so as teachers we need to be prepared to answer these questions.

 This activity involves children recognizing and celebrating their own physical features. I chose this activity because I think it is not only age appropriate but also gives children the opportunity to really look at themselves and others in order to see both differences and similarities. It also opens up the opportunity for discussion among the children and the teachers and brings up important questions that they children may have. After reading through the text I would say that this activity is appropriate for ages 3-6. In the text its says that preschoolers (3-4), “…get  even better at noticing differences among people. They can name identify and match people according to their physical characteristics”(York Pg. 17). It also states for five and 6 years olds that, “Children of this age are still asking questions and trying to make sense of the world. They continue to be interested in physical differences and can easily describe themselves in terms of their own physical features”(York Pg. 18). This is a good activity for this age group because children at this age are interested in physical differences.

One of the goals that I chose from the handout is to foster positive self-esteem and a positive self-concept. I think that this activity meets this goal because it allows children to learn about themselves and ask questions. With this activity children are noticing that they are different from other children, but that it is okay. This can boost their self esteem and their overall self concept. The next goal that I chose was promoting respect towards others. By doing this activity children are learning why other people may look different then them and as the teacher we should be explaining why some people look different then others so that they understand. Once they get this they are more likely to be respectful to people that are different then them. The last goal that I chose was providing children with a positive experience exploring similarities and differences. I think that this is a fun activity that children will enjoy that gives them a good learning opportunity about similarities and differences between them and their classmates. Number one of the anti-bias goals is. “develop a positive, knowledgeable, and confident self-identity within a cultural context”(York Pg.138). This activity meets this goal by helping children recognize their own physical features. The second goal is, “demonstrate comfortable, empathetic interaction with diversity among people”(York Pg. 139). This activity meets this goal by teaching children to accept others who are different from them and explore similarities and differences in positive ways.

One variation or extension that you could do with this activity is get a full size unbreakable mirror and have the children draw themselves right on the mirror. This puts all of their faces right next to each other and allows other children to comment and view the other children’s portraits. One book that I found that goes along with this activity is All The Colors We Are by Kate Kissinger, and another one is Whoever You Are by Mem Fox.