Elementary Diversity Activities

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)

The Sneetches

In this activity, students learn about unfair practices in a simulation exercise and then create plans to stand up against discrimination. (from Teaching Tolerance)

Arthur's World Neighborhood

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)

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)

The ABCs of Whiteness and Anti-Racism

These activities and books help kids think about racism, anti-racism and the importance of acting for justice. (from Teaching Tolerance)

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)

Making Cents of Privilege

Activity exchange for grades 3-5 to help students understand socioeconomic issues. (from Teaching Tolerance)

Roxaboxen Community

Targeted at second grade students, this is an exercise in building a community out of wooden blocks while learning respect, tolerance, and cooperation. (from Teaching Tolerance)

Swedish Culture

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)

Planet Tolerance

Interactive webspace with games and activities for elementary students.

Storytelling Around the World

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)

Our Music Festival

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)

Triangles are Not Bad

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)

Anti-Racism Books for Kids

Literature selections to help young white children see racism and bigotry and understand how they can take a stand against it. (from Teaching Tolerance)

White Anti-Racist Biographies & Activities

Teaching Tolerance presents 4 short biographies for early grades classrooms, with activity ideas.

Latino Heritage Month Books

Teaching Tolerance recommends books for elementary students to celebrate Latino Heritage Month.

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)

Prejudice and Respect

Discussion questions, writing assignments, and student activities for character education and life skills pertaining to prejudice. (from Good Character)

Bibliotherapy: Prejudice

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)

Everyone is Different

Three lessons for kindergarten using puppets to demonstrate that having differences, such as a disability, is okay. (from the Can Do website)

Multicultural Collage

In this art lesson, students create a collage that represents the different types of people found in North America. (from Alfy)

Cooperative Comics

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)

Anti-Bullying Activities

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)

From Chaos to Community

Teacher uses student suggestions to create ideal classroom environment. (from Teaching Tolerance)

Lessons from Goldilocks

Teach inclusive, respectful behavior using storybooks lessons and art. (from Teaching Tolerance)

Of Science and Heroes

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)

The Holiday Dilemma

Experts offer strategies for creating inclusive and meaningful holiday experiences in school. (from Teaching Tolerance)

Family Ties and Fabric Tales

An activity exploring family roots and immigration. (from Teaching Tolerance)

Cultivating Cross-Generational Ties

Innovative suggestions for developing close relationships between children and Senior Citizens. (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)

If you come across other diversity related lessons or activities online, email us the link. We'd love to add them to our list.

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