It's time to celebrate Pride with your infant, toddler or preschooler.
Kids Konnect has curated a selection of activities we think are perfect for Pride month and will help teach your little one about love, tolerance and acceptance.
We have put together these Pride activities for children because we recognize that it can sometimes be hard to come up with child-friendly ideas that are fun and teach your little one about minority communities.
What is Pride Month?
Pride month is celebrated in June. It’s a world wide celebration of people coming together and celebrating the LGBTQ+ community whilst also raising awareness for those around them on the issues affecting the community.
Pride is all about celebrating who you are no matter who you love.
Why do we celebrate it?
We celebrate Pride every year in June because this is when the Stonewall riots took place in 1969 in the US. This spontaneous protest, led by the gay community, happened in response to a police raid that began the morning of June 28th. These protests were so prominent that the laws against gay rights changed for those across America and around the world. It acted as a political catalyst for a new generation of activists and continues to be a milestone in history.
What does LGBTQ+ stand for?
L = Lesbian
G = Gay
B = Bisexual
T = Transgender
Q = Queer
+ = The '+' symbol is for anyone who identifies as part of the community but doesn't label their identity. In this instance, it also covers anyone who identifies as Asexual or Intersex
Activities you can do with your little one to celebrate Pride Month
Get involved with celebrating pride month and take your little one along for the ride with you! There are so many ways preschoolers can be made aware of how important this month is while learning all about why we celebrate. With this in mind, we’ve put together a selection of fun activities for you and your little one to do together.
1) Rainbow walking sensory art
Supplies
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Large roll of paper
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Washable paint in rainbow colours
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Wipes
Method
Simply drizzle the start of your roll of paper with paint, in the order of the rainbow. Let your toddler step their feet into the paint and tell them to walk forward so you can see their footprints. They may want to mix to paint around but let them know that they should keep walking forward! You’ll end up with a roll of lovely little rainbow feet.
Warning: paint may be a bit slippery and they might get paint on the floor!
2) Rainbow Flags
Supplies
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Paper straws
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Rainbow paint
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Card
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Glue or tape
Method
Cut out a flag shape out of your card and paint the rainbow on the flag with your toddler. They’ll be able to learn about the colours of the rainbow and what order they go on. You can even sing the rainbow song whilst you do it! Once your toddler’s rainbow flag is dry, wrap the longest part around your straw and secure it with some glue or tape. They’ll be able to show it off to their friends and the flag may even be a conversation starter when others see them with it! This way your toddler will be able to talk about why you made it.
The History of the Rainbow Flag
You might be wondering why we've included 2 rainbow-based activities in this blog. It is because the Pride flag is a rainbow. Created by artist and activist Gilbert Baker in 1978, the rainbow flag has become the symbol of Pride.
Each colorful stripe has a meaning. Red is for Life. Orange for Healing. Yellow for Sunlight. Green for Nature, Blue for Serenity, and Purple for Spirit.
The Pride flag is now recognized as an internationally important symbol. The Trevor Project as a long list of moments and figures from LGBTQ+ history you can read through (Gilbert is on Page 53). If you also want to know more about the diverse series of flags within the LGBTQ+ community, click this link.
3) Diverse Drawings
Supplies
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Crayons or marker pens
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Paper
Method
This simple activity is a really great way of showing your child what all different types of families look like. All you’ll need is to let them draw their idea of a family, whilst doing so you can gently interject and teach them about how different families come in all shapes and sizes. For example a house with two Dads or two Moms. This activity will open up your child’s perspective and will teach them that every family is different!
4) Read a children’s book with LGBTQ+ characters
This is a really helpful way for your toddler to see lots of different identities represented in normal every day life. Reading a children’s book with LGBTQ+ characters in it will help them learn and understand different family set ups.
Check out this article we found with some lovely inclusive book suggestions for children aged 2-4. You can even visit your local library and check out their range of inclusive books. Here are a couple of our favourites:
Love Makes A Family by Sophie Beer
Purchase here or check out your local library
Families can be different. It's shortsighted to think every family is a mom, dad and two children. Some children have a mom and dad, mom and mom, dad and dad, are raised by grandparents or in a foster family. Love Makes A Family reminds us that this doesn't matter, love is love and the important part is that you love each other.
Heather Has 2 Mommies by Lesléa Newman
Purchase here or check out your local library
A classic in LGBTQ+ children's literature and one of the first LGBTQ+ books aimed at toddlers and young children. This picture book tells the story of Heather, a little girl with 2 lesbian parents and details artificial insemination and the alienation some children of LGBTQ+ parents feel. The book teaches children about Heather's family situation simply and positively – your little one will learn that same-sex parents are common and all that matter's is that Heather is loved.
5) Watch a LGBTQ+ film with your little one
Watching a film can be very impactful for young children, so we would also suggest you put the Disney down and watch some LGBTQ+ films to celebrate Pride. You can find a selection of films here, however we would recommend Rosaline (available on Hulu) or the short film, In A Heartbeat (for free on youtube)
Book a Tour with us Today
Kids Konnect is full of love. We pride ourselves on teaching our students about cultural differences. If this seems like something you’d want your child to get involved in, book a tour at one of our San Leandro, Pacifica, San Mateo or Redwood City preschools today.