Ways to Expose Children to Diversity

As I have said so many times before, keeping your child innocent does not mean keeping your child ignorant. It is important to introduce your child to a variety of cultures, languages, and traditions.

How do you accomplish this with young children?
1) Dolls and figurines: Look for @etsyshops and toy stores that carry a variety of skin tones, disabilities, etc. It is so important to expose your child as well as support stores that support this mission.

2) Books: The heroes and characters in your children’s books should also represent a variety of skin tones, different family constellations, etc. See my amazon shop for a sample list of books as well as my books highlight.

3) Food: Exposing your children to a variety of different cuisines is not only important to broaden their palate but also teach them about how people eat all over the world. This also leads to less bullying in school when our children get to see a variety of lunchbox choices.

4) Holidays: You don’t need to celebrate every holiday, but it is important to educate your child that all families are different and some families celebrate other or different holidays than you do. For example, did you know that Christmas is still being celebrated this week in other cultures (ie: Serbian, Greek orthodox, etc)? Or how some families celebrate the Chinese New Year. It is important to respect everyone’s beliefs and traditions. Remember this starts at home with you!