Diversity Activities
for Elementary School
Preschool/Early Elementary Multicultural Lesson Plans
Website with 20 different multicultural activities for preschoolers and early elementary. Projects include passports, singing, fingerplays, making musical instruments, games etc. (from Gayle's Preschool Rainbow)
Designing a Social Action Project
Guidelines for getting young students involved in making change in their world. (from TeachPeaceNow.org)
Fighting Prejudice and Discrimination Against People with Learning Disabilities
In these lessons, students will work toward understanding what it means to have a learning disability. The goal is make them aware of prejudice and discrimination aimed at those with learning disabilities. (from Teaching Tolerance)
In this activity, students learn about unfair practices in a simulation exercise and then create plans to stand up against discrimination. (from Teaching Tolerance)
Activities and lesson plans for celebrating Black History Month.
(collected by TeachPeaceNow.org)
Students create calendars marking special days that celebrate peace and illustrate them with ways to apply peace in their own lives. (from TeachPeaceNow.org)
Students brainstorm ways to bring about peace and create peace doves to remind them of their ideas. (from TeachPeaceNow.org)
These activities, resources, and tips will help kids explore cultural diversity within their own community and around the world. The curriculum was developed especially for students in grades 2-3, but activities can easily be adapted for younger or older audiences. (from PBS)
Activities and lesson plans on global issues: fair trade, equitable distribution, AIDS, child labor, the environment and more. (from Peace Child International)
Arthur's Communication Adventure
The goal of this guide is to help children who are hearing and sighted become more aware of ways that children who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, or hard-of-hearing learn, play, and enjoy the same things they do. The curriculum was developed especially for students in grades 2-3, but activities can easily be adapted for younger or older audiences. (from PBS)
Why Frogs and Snakes Never Play Together
A chance meeting of a family of frogs and a family of snakes in the woods one day allows wonderful and fun new friendships to be made. Later, when the siblings tell their parents about their new friends, they are told to never play together again. Find out why in this easy-to-produce play that teaches about the serious topic of prejudice. (from Teaching Tolerance)
What Can We Learn from a Box of Crayons?
K-3 students learn that differences make the world a more interesting place. (from Teaching Tolerance)
Activity exchange for grades 3-5 to help students understand socioeconomic issues. (from Teaching Tolerance)
This sample lesson plan demonstrates how students can compare and contrast cultures through holiday and food. Cooking, crafts, research. (from The Educator's Reference Desk)
Lesson plan takes children on a trip around the world, making five stops to learn about the climate, geography and culture. Includes stories from each place. (from Discovery Education)
Students make recordings of songs from their family and heritage. Students may make instruments from other parts of the world, and share at a class recital. (from the Educator's Reference Desk)
Story about the value of differences using basic geometric shapes. Includes modifications for older grades. (from the Educator's Reference Desk)
What do Halloween costumes say?
This activity, adaptable across grades, is designed to help students look critically at the Halloween costumes and examine them for bias and stereotypes. (from Teaching Tolerance)
White Anti-Racist Biographies & Activities
Teaching Tolerance presents 4 short biographies for early grades classrooms, with activity ideas.
Developing a Respect for Diversity
Students will interview their fellow classmates on a given point and use the information to make a bar graph to illustrate the differences within the classroom in order to develop an understanding of and respect for diversity. (from SuccessLink)
Native American Cultures Across the U.S.
This lesson discusses the differences between common representations of Native Americans within the U.S. and a more differentiated view of historical and contemporary cultures of five American Indian tribes living in different geographical areas. Students will learn about customs and traditions such as housing, agriculture, and ceremonial dress for the Tlingit, Dinè, Lakota, Muscogee, and Iroquois peoples. (from EDSITEment)
Native American Diversity: Not 'Indians,' Many Tribes
Students study the interaction between environment and culture as they learn about three vastly different Native groups in a game-like activity that uses vintage photographs, traditional stories, photos of artifacts, and recipes. (from EDSITEment)
Learning to Respect Each Other
Students will learn about Martin Luther King, Jr. and about the history of prejudice and discrimination in the U.S. (from Discovery Education)
Discussion questions, writing assignments, and student activities for character education and life skills pertaining to prejudice. (from Good Character)
Teaching children about the perils of prejudice is challenging. The book, The One Hundred Dresses, written about 50 years ago addresses this subject. While the faces have changed, the lessons remain. Responses to the book are recorded in student journals. (from the Educator's Reference Desk)
Three lessons for kindergarten using puppets to demonstrate that having differences, such as a disability, is okay. (from the Can Do website)
In this art lesson, students create a collage that represents the different types of people found in North America. (from Alfy)
Comic books are visual literature. This simple cooperative group activity allows students to identify confrontational issues within their own school and then imagine solutions by creating a comic strip. (from Teaching Tolerance)
a bullying survey for early grades and a bullying quiz for middle and upper grades, designed to increase awareness about and decrease instances of bullying. (from Teaching Tolerance)
Teacher uses student suggestions to create ideal classroom environment. (from Teaching Tolerance)
Teach inclusive, respectful behavior using storybooks lessons and art. (from Teaching Tolerance)
Combat stereotypes by creatively combining science and social studies activities. (from Teaching Tolerance)
What Responsibilities Accompany our Rights?
This lesson explores the importance of citizens fulfilling responsibilities in order to protect their rights -- and the rights of others. (from Teaching Tolerance)
An activity exploring family roots and immigration. (from Teaching Tolerance)
Disability Awareness: We're in it Together
Differently-abled students put on a play and learn about acceptance. (from Teaching Tolerance)
Bringing Sight to the Sightless
Remembering the contributions of Louis Braille. One teacher combined children's literature, class discussions and a visit from a blind educator to break down stereotypes and fears about people with sensory disabilities. (from Teaching Tolerance)
