June is Pride Month and we approach this serious topic in an age appropriate way in order to educate the children about accepting everyone for who they are. Children do not need to know every detail of Pride. We can keep conversations general while speaking to the power of acceptance and inclusion. We want to empower and encourage individuality, nurture self-expression, be resilient, and promote kindness and empathy.
This month we have introduced and invited the children to engage in Pride themed provocations. The Rainbow Flag is a representation of LGBTQIA2-S. This special flag has six colours, each colour with a different meaning. Red means Life, Orange means Healing, Yellow means Sunlight, Green means Nature, Blue means Harmony/Peace, and Violet means Spirit. These are all traits we want to instill in the minds of young children in order for them to have a clear vision of diversity and inclusion.
During one activity we discussed the Rainbow Flag and the colours. We didn’t discuss in depth the meaning of the flag; however, we did implement conversations about inclusivity and diversity. We also talked about love. We invited the children to stamp their hands in the provided sponges which incorporated the rainbow flag colours. This type of provocation represented togetherness, joy, and happiness. This was a great learning opportunity for the toddlers to engage and express a sense of community, not only within our program but with our entire center. It may appear to be a simple activity with simple materials but it had a huge impact with a huge meaning.
