Uniqueness is Beautiful

December 3, 2024

Uniqueness is Beautiful

Sage Hong, RECE

These days, I always get excited when I talk to toddlers about how different everything in the world is, and how beautiful they are. All 15 children in my classroom have their own identities, and whenever I see them shine beautifully in different ways, I feel infinitely proud to be an educator who accompanies these children’s childhood. I sincerely hope that these children, while belonging to this toddler group, will recognize the value of each other’s differences in the relationships they create, respect human differences, recognize bias, and speak up for what is right, and I offered today’s activity with the hope that it will be a good beginning.

I picked up a book, ‘True colours of you’, that I wanted to share, and this was the book that I had previously shared with all the children during group time yesterday. Today, I wanted to gain a deeper understanding, so I intentionally brought C and E into the classroom. They seemed to be quietly observing their different skin colours and hair colours while listening to the story. E shared loudly by pointing at the picture and her hair, “Orange! Brown!” C glanced at Tina as he ran his fingers through his hair. ‘Did he notice the similarity between his hair colour and Tina’s?’ From this point on, I found it very interesting to watch the different perspectives being shared between these two children.

I showed the children pictures of their friends’ hands. They were focused on finding their own hands in the pictures that looked similar, but different. I noticed that they had already recognized the different colors of their friends’ hands. There were no labels on the pictures, but they found theirs among the differences and gave me and Tina a happy smile. C also pointed to a hand that was a little darker than the others and said, “R!” I could tell he was carefully aware of the implications of today’s offering.

After a short story time with the children, I offered them ice hands of different skin tones that I had made in advance. Their eyes widened and they looked like they were wondering what this was. E’s hand touched it without hesitation, expressing what she felt and saw, “Cold!, red!” On the other hand, C began to touch it cautiously and examine it.

I was curious so I asked them a few questions. The children explored the ice hands in their own way and calmly answered the questions one by one.

What does this look like? E and C said “hands!”

Which one is closer to the colour of your hand? C was so excited to point at one of hands and said “My colour!, My dark colour!”

Which one is your hand? C pointed one the ice hand and said, “This is mine!” E also pointed at one of hands and said “Brown! Black!” She picked up one of hands and was look at water falling on her hands very curiously. Then she said, “Water falling!”

Which one looks like Tina’s hand and Sage’s hand? C pointed at each one and smiled! “Here! Here!”

Which of our friends is this dark colour similar to? C said, “R!” and E pointed at the dark ice and said, “Dark!”

We shared a very special experience today. When offering my idea to the children, they showed their strengths with completely different interests. C’s concentration on recognizing that everyone has different skin colors surprised me. He calmly thought of the skin colours of other friends, and whenever he thought of them, he pointed to us and said, “R! M!”, and also showed a deep understanding of the language of the question I asked, “Same? Different?” throughout the activity.

E also knew how to distinguish all the colours, and was very immersed in sensory play for a while, and also did not hesitate to confidently express her feelings. Even the water that melted into the ice and the leaves provided under the ice hand were learning opportunities that she did not miss.

The children’s activities were extended and paper with hands drawn on them, with paint and brushes offered. (The colors provided were the same colors as ice hands.) They began to paint freely and I could hear their conversations about what they were doing from their own perspectives. C pointed out each colour and focused on matching it to someone’s skin tone, and E filled the paper with the colours she had chosen. C pointed out each colour and said, “Sage, Me, R, ​​Tina… M!” E also continued the conversation. “E painting! Brown colour! My hands!” They finished all the activities of the day in their own way.

I had a strong feeling that today’s activities would be a memorable one. Educating children about anti-bias was a huge challenge for me, and it took a lot of study and deep reflection on myself to approach it. With the many professional learning opportunities available to educators these days, I felt that it is an important responsibility for educators to open the door for children in early childhood programs to realize that everyone is different, and therefore everyone is very precious and beautiful. After engaging with the children today, I wondered why I had thought anti-bias education was so difficult. Was it because I had a hard time breaking down my strong prejudices? I realized that the children accept many things as they are and others for who they are. Also, through watching the two children curiously looking at each other’s different perspectives, I am convinced that children’s unconscious cognitive abilities are slowly and gradually developing within themselves, even if the educator’s intentions are not clearly conveyed to them and are not reflected in the results right away. Although I offered this activity with two children, C and E, I have a strong feeling that I want to offer it again with more children in the future.

When I read what Sage has offered, and having been a part of this experience, it leaves me wondering…why do we hesitate in sharing these experiences with young children? We recognize how important it is to acknowledge our identities and to celebrate our differences, so why the hesitation? When we believe children to be capable and competent, shouldn’t they be a part of these conversations?

I’m deeply connected to the work that is ongoing in the toddler room. The educators have been connecting with Identity for quite some time now, and have been introducing it to the children. I wonder why C was so passionate about which skinned toned hand belonged to whom? Why did E feel so strongly about Emma’s dark hand? What else can the toddlers teach us about what they know and understand about each others differences?

Knowing that I personally struggle understanding my own identity, what can the toddlers teach me? What do they feel is important? How else can we support this important work? I absolutely believe that knowing our own identity and worth is so important, I want to be a part of these conversations early on, not when we feel the need to defend someone.

Tina Thompson, RECE
Pedagogical & Co-Culture Lead

I was so excited when Sage told us about her idea for her side by side. Then she told us she was hoping to do it with C and E and I was even more excited. C and E have a lot of vocabulary and have good critical thinking skills. I was excited to hear and see how they would respond to such a deep and meaningful activity. When the side by side was over Sage told us how it went. I think all three of us were surprised that E didn’t have more to say in the connection aspect, it makes me wonder if Sage was to offer this experience again, will she be more aware of the similarities and differences and making the connection to her peers. C understood the concept right away, and I believe will be a great advocate in helping us educators bring awareness of this topic to his friends.

I believe we are taking on a big role, one that is meaningful and important in our classroom. Trying to help educate the children that even though we are all different we are all still the same, I am noticing this in their play and interactions. As the children play hair dresser feeling the various textures of hair in our classroom and discussing: curls, straight, long… As the children play with certain dolls and name them after one another, noticing skin colours. I, as well as my team are continuously learning and growing when it comes to anti bias education, I am happy to be on this journey alongside them and the children.

Breann Forsyth, RECE
Toddler Room Educator

When Sage first shared her idea of what she had planned for her side-by-side with Tina, I was immediately intrigued and curious! The topic of skin colour and race has been part of the discussions in our toddler Room for a couple of weeks now, and therefore I thought that this idea would definitely be welcomed by the children who would get the opportunity to be a part of it. When Sage finally shared how the experience went, knowing E as well as we do, I was a little surprised at her reaction and wondered why she didn’t respond more or make the connection to our previous class discussions. When we discussed that among ourselves, I wondered if it was because the sensory aspect of the activity was a lot more appealing to her, and if she would react differently if we were to offer it as a group project. It seemed as if C had picked up right where we had left off and was able to continue to make those connections. Which goes to show why it is so important to start having these conversations.

After reading Tina and Brea’s responses too, I would have to say that I wholeheartedly agree with all 3 of them! It’s not always easy to have these conversations, especially if they make us uncomfortable. But I feel that it is our responsibility to bring awareness. As a person of colour myself, in the past I would often not want to address the colour of my skin or talk about it or bring attention to it – because I did not want people to look at me differently! But time has taught me that no matter what, I am different. It is a fact that I cannot change and I should be proud of it. And so now I can proudly and comfortably compare the colour of my skin to another child in a positive way. I can be an example to maybe another child who might be different too!

Thank you Sage for always being such a positive role model to all our Toddlers and for introducing this exciting way to discussing a not so very easy topic!

Pamela Vas, RECE
Toddler Room Educator