An Inclusive Thanksgiving
Autumn is in full swing and many of us around the world have by now celebrated with our families some form of a harvest festival, be it Mid-Autumn Festival here in Asia or Thanksgiving in Canada. The next upcoming harvest festivity would be Thanksgiving in the US. Since this celebration originated from the coming together of Native Americans and Pilgrims celebrating harvest together, the topics of diversity and inclusion often come up when we talk to our children about Thanksgiving. But this is just the tip of the iceberg because in our daily lives, diversity does not only limit to race, but also gender, religion, disability, and sexual orientation (among many others). While inclusion requires empathy and open-mindedness that needs to be nurtured from a young age.
Soft Skills for Future Global Citizens
With the advancement of the internet and the ever-improving skills of our tech-savvy children, the world is literally at their fingertips. Even during Pandemic lockdowns, the kids have access to resources and are exposed to various cultures from all over the world. Therefore, to become true global citizens it is imperative that our children learn the nuances of a diverse society and to develop the necessary sensitivity towards others around them. But I must admit that I find myself sometimes not very well prepared for the questions or observations my kids have on this diversity. Having grown up in a completely different era, my knowledge of this topic came from my own limited personal experience and my parents certainly did not put as much attention to it as part of my education as modern parents do. So, it is really helpful to have found some resources that teach us how to teach our children this important subject!
Making it relatable
One obvious resource could be age-appropriate books for our kids that talks about diversity in situations that they can relate to easily. I find this website has great tips and suggestions on how we can prepare our children in their school lives, as well as listing some good books for the little ones based on their age. While researching on how to help our kids learn about diversity and inclusion, I came across this really beautiful animation created by Magali Dunyach, Chien-Ju Hung, Jimin Jung, Vajra Pancharia, and Léa Pietrzyk from Gobelins. This short film metaphorically explains diversity through a mother’s curry recipe and her conversation with her son. It compares the merging of various cultures in our daily lives with the richness of tastes that different ingredients bring to a pot of curry. It definitely gave me food for thoughts and for sure children will be able to grasp the concept easily. Hope you will enjoy this as much as I did!
Stay Sparky!