A fable is a short story that often uses animal characters to teach a life lesson. Animals from fables are generally given human characteristics to help relate characters from the story to people in real life. Writing a fable with your kids can help teach several human values, such as diversity, justice, responsibility and privacy. Sit down with the kids and create a few characters for the fable. Give each animal a different personality to promote diversity. Discuss a story that involves your characters. Encourage the concept of consequences. What happens when the little bird doesn't listen to his parents?
Exploration walks are great ways for children to learn about the environment around them. Whether it's a walk around the neighborhood, through the woods or around the school, exploring helps kids adjust to their surroundings. Encourage the kids to draw a map of everything they see. Have them label buildings, trees and landmarks that they recognize, and color-code them. As a group, discuss what everyone noticed about the world around them.
At a young age, many kids may not be aware of their own individuality. Culture and diversity activities help kids associate individuality with self-esteem. Gather the children together in a group. One at a time, have them stand up and share three things about themselves, such as, where they were born. Afterward, the others in the group can ask questions about the child standing up. Encourage them to share dances, songs and stories that make up family traditions.
Helping kids understand the roles of people in the community can help them define their own roles. Work with the children to make a list of all the jobs they can think of. Easy choices include teacher, police officer, firefighter, postal worker, store cashier and doctor. What do these people do? How are they connected? What does the doctor do when he needs to mail a letter? Continue the exercise by talking about unusual jobs. Have the kids draw pictures of the jobs they'd like to have when they grow up.