35+ Diversity and Inclusion Activities to Celebrate the Diverse yet Unified World!

Diversity refers to the wide range of differences between people based on their race, religion, skin color, physical abilities, nationality, language, and culture, and being inclusive and accepting is necessary to make people feel a sense of belonging and community. 

Introducing your kids to the theme of diversity ❤️ and inclusion from an early age can go a long way in making them compassionate toward different individuals.

Diversity and Inclusion Activities for Your Kids

Diversity and inclusion activities are vital for kids to understand the world away from their immediate surroundings and the various kinds of people who exist. 

Kids should be encouraged in their early years to be inclusive and offer the same respect and appreciation to people who aren’t the same as them.

In this blog, I have compiled a list of activities you can incorporate to educate your kids 👭on diversity and the importance of inclusion. 

Engage in Discussions

The first step towards getting kids to understand diversity and inclusivity is to engage in open discussions 🗣️ about them and normalize our differences.

Encourage kids to ask questions and add their own thoughts to the topic.

Break Eggs 

Break some eggs with your kids to show that even though people can look different on the outside from each other, they are all the same inside.

Place eggs of different kinds – brown and white, with small cracks and imperfections on a plate. 🥚 Kids can break them into bowls one after the other to show them that the yolks look the same despite the different shells.

Make a Unity Wreath

Teach kids about diverse skin tones and their beauty with this fun art activity that they will love.

Make your kids dip their hands in paints of skin tone shades and transfer the handprints 7-8 times to a white sheet of paper. Cut the handprints and glue them together to make a unity wreath with handprints.

Complete an Identity Chart

A hands-on activity for kids to reflect on themselves and write down the little things that make them who they are.

Print a template of four puzzle pieces 🧩 joined together on sheets of paper for kids to fill. Encourage kids to draw and write down their favorite food, favorite color, a hobby they enjoy, and a self-portrait of themselves to complete the identity puzzle. 

Pro Tip:

You can include more categories for them to draw that make up their identity. 

Design Inclusion Posters

Conduct an educational and fun poster-making activity 🖼️ to help kids understand and represent the idea of inclusivity with art. 

Divide kids into small groups. Supply them with chart paper and art supplies and encourage them to color and design posters on the theme of being inclusive of everyone and what they took away from the topic.

Pro Tip:

You can also let them present the posters in front of the other groups and explain their perspectives.

Conduct Peer-to-Peer Interviews

Set up kids in pairs and give them a list of questions.

Kids can take turns interviewing each other 🎙️ to understand and note down their similarities and differences, which helps kids understand how diverse the world is.

Complete a Word Search

My son enjoys completing word search puzzles on different themes.

Print out a word search template with words often associated with diversity, like acceptance, respect, identity, inclusion, culture, etc. Kids will have a great time finding the hidden words 🔎 while adding new ones to their vocabulary. 

Pro Tip:

You can also include a simple definition of the words near the word search box for kids to understand them better.

Introduce Different People

Introduce kids to various kinds of people – who have disabilities, are from another country, have a different skin color, or speak another language. 

Kids can experience first-hand – how different people can be and listen to their stories to help them understand the world and its diverse people.

Have Book Reading Sessions

Books have the power to impart life lessons and stories. Choose relevant books on diversity and being inclusive, and have a reading session with your kids, 📖 followed by discussions about what they learned and their thoughts.

Some book recommendations you can include are Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev, It’s OK To Be Different by Todd Parr, and The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates and Juniper Bates, to name a few.

Pro Tip:

Add books to your reading shelf for kids to learn about disabilities, race, skin color, and other ways humans are different from each other and the need to be respectful.

Try New Cuisines

A fun way to learn about different cultures and their people is by exposing your kids to new foods and encouraging them to taste and try the foods commonly eaten in other parts of the world. 🥘

You can also talk to them about the country where the food is popular and the stories behind the dish.

My son enjoys trying food from other countries and cultures.

Celebrate Cultural Holidays

Go through the calendar each month and celebrate the different cultural holidays of that month with your kids. 🎊

This gives kids many opportunities to have fun while also getting acquainted with various cultures.

Learn Skin Colors with Paints

A simple way to expose kids to the topic of different skin colors with paints to help them understand how people can be diverse.

Mix and match paint 🎨 to recreate the various skin colors of people from different parts of the world. Incorporate these skin-colored paints in arts and crafts activities that kids can do together.

Break Down Stereotypes

Kids can sometimes be swayed by stereotypes and be influenced by them. Break down stereotypes in simple terms for kids to differentiate and understand between right and wrong.

Make Self-Portraits 

Let your kids transform plain paper plates into self-portraits 👩🏽 in a fun craft to embrace how unique and special each one is despite our differences.

They can start by painting the base of the paper plates with paints to match their skin colors and glue buttons, pipe cleaners, paper strips, and shapes differently to accommodate everyone’s unique features. 

Pro Tip:

You can turn these paper plates into masks for kids to wear.

Watch Videos on Disabilities

Educate kids about people with disabilities by letting them watch related and diverse media – videos and documentaries 📹 to shed light on the importance of considering them as equals and being inclusive of them in society.

Pro Tip:

Make sure to include videos on mental disabilities, as they need the same attention and are often overlooked by society.

Stage a Play

It is a fun and exciting activity for kids to showcase their acting skills. 

Divide kids into groups and provide them with simple scripts to act out 🎭 the form of a play on diversity and how important it is to be inclusive.

Pro Tip:

You can involve kids in decorating the classroom and making the props for an engaging arts and crafts activity to foster their creativity.

Decorate Paper Cut-Outs

Engage your kids with a fun craft to decorate paper cut-outs to represent themselves and show how everyone is inherently the same and one.

Print a few body outline templates. Kids can trace them on colored paper matching their skin tones, cut along the edges, and decorate them with paints and paper shapes to make a paper cut-out to resemble them. 

Dance to Global Music

Have a fun dancing session with your kids to get them moving.

Kids can have a fun time by grooving and dancing to the beats of global music 💃🏽🕺🏾 from around the world in different languages to experience the beauty of various cultures.

Pro Tip:

Kids can also be divided into groups to choreograph their dances with international music and present in front of the others.

Craft a Story

Kids can unleash their creativity and imagination to craft and create stories ✍🏼 with diverse people as characters who come from different cultures, have different skin colors, or are affected by a disability. 

Let them work on ending the story with how society accepts and makes these people feel included and respected despite their differences.

Pro Tip:

Kids can write a story and present it in front of the class to understand everyone’s different story perspectives.

Celebrate Different Names

Names can be very diverse and different to pronounce when they originate from various global languages. Encourage kids to pronounce the names of people from different cultures and languages as a small activity.

This prompts kids to understand the beauty and meanings behind the names of different languages and makes the person bearing the name feel welcomed.

Draw a Family Portrait

Kids view the world first and foremost through their family members and caregivers who shape their early perspectives, and families can look different for every kid. 

Give kids a sheet of paper and have them draw a picture of their family members 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 as a chance to share their family with their classmates and understand how diverse people and families are. 

Embark on Virtual Field Trips

Get your kids ready to become globe-trotters from the comfort of their seats, experiencing the world through a screen using the power of technology to become culturally inclusive.

Embark on virtual trips with no travel time to different parts of the world 🌎 using the Internet – for kids to discover culturally significant spots and the people there – how they live, their houses, and lifestyles.

Pro Tip:

You can play travel-related videos on YouTube along with Google Maps and Google Street View for kids to watch.

Learn about World Money

Curious kids like my son would enjoy learning about the different currencies and coins from various parts of the world.

Kids can bring in international currencies and coins from travels or collections from family and friends to go through and marvel at their designs.

Conduct a Cooking Session

Put on your aprons for a hands-on and engaging cooking session 👩🏽‍🍳 with kids. Kids can choose food from different cultures to recreate together and relish the dishes from different cuisines.

You can discuss the dishes and the cooking methods and share stories behind their origins to make it educational.

Pro Tip:

You can also encourage students to bring their family heirloom dishes representing their culture and food habits.

Donate Books

Encourage your kids to donate books to their school or local library 📚 to get more people to read about the importance of being kind and respectful towards people regardless of their origins or appearances to create a peaceful and inclusive world.

Make Cultural Artworks

Encourage kids to explore and learn about different cultures and their values with engaging art activities.

Kids can make culturally-related and traditional artworks 🎨 from other parts of the world to bring inclusivity to various global cultures. Origami from Japan and Rangoli from India are some to try.

Conduct a Quiz

You can test your kids on their understanding of diversity and inclusion with a fun trivia quiz after the lessons on these topics.

Conduct these quizzes in pairs or teams as an engaging activity and to test how much they understood vital themes like race, skin color, culture, physical and mental abilities, and the concept of being accepting and inclusive to people who are different from them.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed reading the list of activities you can do with your kids to help them understand the diversity in the world and how they can work towards being kind, accepting, and inclusive of others.😊

Please comment below if you liked these activities and which ones you would try at home with your kids.