Decorate the room with posters that highlight the importance of tolerance and acceptance. By selecting colorful, attention-getting posters that feature images and phrases promoting acceptance, you can set the stage for lessons on the importance of tolerance.
Discuss diversity. Begin your discussion by asking students to think about how people are different from each other. Allow student responses to guide your discussion as much as possible. While your students likely don't know the words "diversity" or "tolerance" yet, they have noticed differences and likely even experienced situations of tolerance and intolerance. Allow them to share these experiences with each other and build a mutual understanding of human differences.
Read books in which the importance of tolerance is discussed. Trade traditional story time fare for books like "If the World were a Village" by David J Smith in which the diversity of the world's population is discussed through simple words and pictures and the importance of tolerance is discussed. Also consider the picture book "People" by Peter Spier that tells the tale of diversity across the globe and cautions readers to work to be tolerant. Preschool students will likely not understand a complex conversation about the importance of tolerance, but by reading books with a tolerance theme regularly teachers can impact this information subtly and in a way that their students will remember.
Create tolerance posters. Provide your students with coloring supplies and paper, and ask them to create tolerance-themed decorations to add to the classroom wall. Open up some of the picture books that you have read as a class, and encourage students to use these pictures as inspiration for their images. Praise students' efforts as they create images of tolerance to add to your classroom.
Deal with intolerance behaviors as they arise. If some students seem to struggle with the concept of tolerance, deal with them on an individual basis. Speak to the parents of any students who exhibit intolerant behaviors. Explain your class tolerance lessons to the parents so that they can understand your education goals. Develop a plan, with parent's help, to encourage the student to act in a more tolerant fashion.