Same and Different, part II

To continue our discussion on same and different, the Cardinals have been introduced to a variety of age-appropriate diversity literature. The two most recent books we read helped us explore the many different shades of human skin color. The Colors of Us by Karen Katz presented a colorful and creative way that describes the many beautiful shades of skin tone in our society.  Shelley Rotner’s  book Shades of People, was filled with wonderful photographs of children, all with varying skin tones, hair colors and textures, and facial features.  

After our conversations on the incredible range of skin color shades, we created an activity for the Cardinals to help further understand these ideas and make them more concrete. We began by posing the question, “If you could name a color to describe your skin tone, what color would you call it?”

Kaya – “golden”

Kate – “tan”

Wyatt – “golden”

Trace – “golden”

Young – “golden”

Noel – “white”

Katy – “whitish”

Audrey – “white”

Evan – “peachish and brownish”

Samuel – “golden”

Violet – “peach”

Lilly – “peach”

Radha – “brownish”

Jayden – “very, very, very golden”

Stella – “peachish gold”

Tori – “little brown”

To add more fun to the mix of shades within our Cardinal family, paint swatches were brought in. We matched our skin shades to paint swatches and had fun pronouncing the funny names that went along with them.

Kaya – “Peach Smoothie”

Kate – “Mojave Sunset”

Wyatt – “Messa Sans”

Trace – “Spring of Pearls”

Young – “Sandstone”

Noel – “Woodbrow Wilsom Blush”

Katy – “Tailored Linen”

Audrey – “Tailored Linen”

Evan – “Terra Cotta Trail”

Samuel – “Dark Walnut”

Violet – “Peppermint Brige”

Lilly – “Sonoran”

Radha – “Filoli Majestic Oak”

Jayden – “Muddy Mississippi”

Stella – “Peach Biege”

Tori – “Peach Smoothie”

Amazing! Indeed there are a whole lot of shades between white and brown in our Cardinal family! So, to show our new found knowledge we decided to create self-portraits. Inspired by our many conversations and hands-on experiments, each Cardinal will make a self-portrait using materials that best resembles their image. A mirror will be used so that the children can observe their facial features and look for small details.  During this project, the children will be encouraged to discuss what color tissue paper they will use. Which comes closest to your skin tone? What color are your eyes? What color is your hair? Is it straight, curly or wavy? And so on. Stay tuned for the finished product.