Background Information:

When we talk about diversity, we are talking about understanding, respecting and accepting that we are unique. Even though we are all human, we may have differences in race, gender, age, religion, appearance, cultural background, ability, and sexual orientation. Recognising and celebrating these differences is key to creating a diverse and supportive environment in which children thrive.

For young children, the things that make us different can begin with what we can see, such as eye, hair and skin colour. Many of us might feel uncomfortable talking about skin colour. Still, there is nothing wrong with talking about the colour of skin, and you can approach it in the same way you might talk about hair and eye colour by taking a curious and respectful stance. In fact, teaching children not to talk about skin colour can be harmful as we are telling children that there is something 'bad' about this discussion, which may ultimately contribute to racism.

Children will notice the differences between themselves and others, but their observations will likely be innocent as they describe and categorise what they see. Having conversations at a young age about differences in things, like skin colour and cultural background, is incredibly important in developing the foundations for having more sophisticated discussions about race and difference as they get older.

Celebrating events like Harmony Week is a great way to tune children into the topic of diversity while cultivating a future where we are all treated equally.

By developing this activity in partnership with Faber-Castell, we celebrate cultural diversity with their World Colours range! Each set includes colours chosen to blend or match skin tones from across the world, fostering inclusivity and helping children represent their unique identities.

Activity Instructions

Part A: Exploring Diversity

Step 1.

Begin by inviting children to sit in a discussion circle. Explain to them that they will be exploring a world of colour! When we look around the room, we can see lots of different colours - in the furniture, carpet, pictures on the wall and in the people! We are all different and have different coloured hair, eyes and skin. These differences are known as diversity! Explain that Harmony Week is a week celebrated every year. During Harmony Week, we celebrate the diverse cultures that make up Australia: our First Nations peoples, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and those who have arrived in Australia since European settlers arrived.

In this activity, children will be exploring diversity through colour.

The first thing they will be doing will be to imagine a world without colour. You could share the following image - also available here:

Invite children to share their thoughts about this picture, for example,

I wonder what is happening in this picture.
I wonder what you notice about this picture.

Step 2.

Now share this picture - also available here:

You can then pose some of the following questions:

I wonder if this is the same picture as the one before.
I wonder what is different about it.
I wonder what you think of this picture. I wonder if having colour in the picture makes it more interesting.
I wonder what colours can you see in this picture.
I wonder what else you notice about this picture.

Now have a look around the room:

I wonder what colours you can see in your room or centre.

You could take some time focusing on each colour (you consider taking a photo of each colour) and then work with children to name that colour. Talk to children about how a descriptive term related to a familiar object can help explain a particular colour (e.g. apple green, sky blue, mandarin orange, lemon yellow, strawberry red). Suggest to children that using food as a descriptive term can be helpful because food is so familiar with and we look at all the time. You could use this Colour Chart to help inspire your children.

Lead children to the idea that there are so many different colours in the world!

Step 3.

Explain to children that this is the same for people; we come in so many different colours! Take a look at these flashcards. You will see lots of different skin colours, eye colours and hair colours - having all these differences makes the world a more interesting and colourful place.

Direct children to the different hair colours in the pictures:

I wonder what names you might give the different hair colours? Note: Remind children how we can use food and other familiar objects to help us explain colours. For example, lemon yellow, orange orange, chocolate brown, liquorice black (or refer to the Colour Chart).
I wonder if you can find someone in these pictures with the same hair colour as you.
I wonder if you can find anyone in your room with the same hair colour as you.

Step 4.

You could then focus on eye colours. It might be hard to see eye colours in the pictures so instead, invite children to take a look around the room at all the other children and adults:

I wonder what eye colours you can find.
I wonder what names you could give these eye colours.
I wonder if anyone has the same eye colour as you.

Step 5.

Finally, you could focus on skin colours. Take another look at these flashcards from earlier and invite children to consider the following questions:

I wonder what names you would give the different skin colours. Note: You could explain to children that they may sometimes hear skin colours being referred to as either black or white. These are very broad and general terms, and when you really look at people, no one is actually black or white—there are so many skin colours! Focus children on the diversity of colours and remind children of how we can use food to help us explain colours. In this case, we could say that different skin colours might be cinnamon brown, honey gold, peachy pink, apricot pink, peanut brown, chocolate brown. Tip: Refer to the Colour Chart for more ideas.
I wonder if you can find someone in these pictures with skin colour like you.

Be mindful before suggesting children look for someone in the room with the same skin colour. In some settings, you may have a room of children with many different skin colours, while you may have less diversity in other settings. In order to limit the potential for children to feel singled out based on the colour of their skin, it would be good to stick to eye and hair colour. However, if you are confident that all children can feel included, you could extend this comparison activity to skin colour.

Through this process, reiterate to children that although we all look different, we are similar when compared to other things, like cats or bananas or trees. Sometimes our differences can mean we come from different cultures, speak different languages at home, wear different clothes, have different types of families and have different experiences. But we are all the same inside. We can celebrate our differences while knowing that we are all the same inside; we all like laughing and singing and dancing, we all feel sad or angry sometimes, we all feel pain when we hurt ourselves, and we all enjoy playing.

Remind children about Harmony Week and how it is a day for celebrating all the diverse cultures that make up Australia. In the next activity, children will be creating a picture to celebrate Harmony Week.

Part B: Self-Portraits

Step 1.

Explain to children that they are now going to think about how we are different from other people and how we are the same as others by creating a self-portrait. A self-portrait is a picture you make of yourself that shows how you think of yourself. (You could share some of these examples of self-portraits with children.)

Some things in your self-portrait will be the same as everyone else: you will have a head, a mouth, a nose, cheeks, a chin, eyes and ears. But there will also be things that are different:

some of you might have lots of hair, while some might not have much at all
your skin, hair and eye colours may differ from others
you might be wearing different clothes and shoes.

Step 2.

Share your selection of Faber-Castell World Colours art materials (or provide children with a range of markers, pencils or crayons in the colours discussed in the previous activities).

Invite children to think about the colours they would choose to describe themselves and to select these colours for their self-portrait:

I wonder what colour/s you will use for your eyes.
I wonder what colour/s you will use for your hair.
I wonder what colour/s you will use for your skin.

Optional: You could also invite children to consider what they'd like to include in the background of their artwork:

Are they in a place where they love spending time?
Are they doing something they love?
Are they with their family?

Provide children with time to complete their self-portraits.

Step 3.

Create a display for your children's self-portraits where they can be viewed and enjoyed by other children, educators and parents visiting your centre. Include information about Harmony Week, and the activities children participated in (such as exploring and celebrating diversity).

Part C: Possible lines of development

Children may have their own ideas about how to extend this activity with the materials used in this activity, or you could consider the following:

Work as a group to identify other differences and similarities with the way children look and with the things that they like. For each question, children could form a group of people the same as them. For example:
- Can you find someone with the same hair length or hairstyle as you?
- Can you find someone wearing the same coloured clothes as you?
- Can you find someone who likes the same ice cream flavour as you?
Suggest the prompt 'World Colours' to children and invite children to make a drawing of a place that they love (e.g. the park or the beach or someone's home) and to make their drawing as colourful as they can
Work with children to catalogue as many different colours as you can find in your room or centre and to name these colours using a descriptive word based on a familiar object (e.g. food)
Read children some stories that include diversity, for example, here, here, here and here, or find a book through the National Centre for Australian Children's Literature Cultural Diversity Database. The book The Colours of Us by Karen Katz explicitly discusses skin colour, and although it is an American book may still be helpful and enjoyable for children.
Invite children to draw and colour faces with this colouring-in sheet
More early learning Harmony Week activities can be found here
More information about Faber-Castell and their range of art materials for young children can be found here.

Faber-Castell - World Colours

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