How do you explain to little kids about ethnicity?

Question

i dont have any kids, but what do you explain to a little kid, when they ask why someone has a different shade of skin, or why they look a certain way, or why they speak different, or have different customs. Do you just tell them the truth, and explain to them you cant categorize them?

Answer 1

You cant start by getting them multi-racial dolls /toys /gi-joes(not just the race they are) And let them know that diversity is normal! And everyone is special and no one is the same :)

Answer 2

My daughter is biracial and I have never really had to answer that question-other children used to ask her and she would just say because I am black and I am white..just right :)

(It was a book I got her)

I just told her she was lucky to be different parts of  fdifferent cultures and she would have black dolls/white dolls/

I agree with Danielle above but they do not make any "biracial" dolls...maybe latino that would "look" close to my daughter's color but I alwys found that annoying that they didn't!

Answer 3

Just tell them.  How did the person tell you when you were curious?

Answer 4

You just tell them all people are different. Some people are tall, some are short, some are white, some are brown. It's actually a pretty simple concept for kids to grasp. Usually the ones who have problems with it are adults.

Answer 5

If it is a part of their life from the start it does not seem so different. I have always bought my kids different colored Barbies and baby dolls. And we have darker skinned people in our family. I have just told my kids some people have dark skin, some people have curly hair, it is no different. it has been a part of their lives since the beginning so they have always been accepting of it. I have always put a lot of emphasis on it is who you are on the inside and it is a good time to teach not to judge not only based on skin color, but on weight, IQ, financial status etc. My husband is part Italian (looks full) and one one my daughters is darker skinned and one is not, so it is something we talked about early on. I have tried to teach them if you judge someone it needs to be based on who they are as a person not appearance. And as with every other moral so to speak, it is something that is taught from the beginning.

It is not just diversity of races you should teach your child about but diversity period. Acceptance of those who are not exactly as we are regardless of color, size, money etc.

Edit: there is also a book my kids love called "The Colors Of Us" it talks about all different shades and the last page is all different colored hands, they love finding the one that matches them.

Answer 6

God makes everyone different so the world won't be boring!

Answer 7

For little kids gather them in a garden with many different flowers, and show them that we are all different pointing to the orchids, daisies, tiger lilies, carnations, meaning we have different skin, language, ways we were raised (and tell them how the plants were raised) and yet, here in this garden of life, we are all the same because we are only human and have the same feelings and emotions, and we are all together in this garden of life to make things better and beautifully.

Sheesh I sound like a poet, but I know it explains it well.

Answer 8

Depends on the age but yes you explain that everyone is different in alot of ways. It can be an opportunity to go further into the childs own background and understanding culture and how it evolves.

Answer 9

I'd just tell them the truth

I work at a childcare centre where there's a lot of different cultures. When a child asks I just say "_____ is from a country called _____ and in their family they do this and that but we are all still the same"

Answer 10

Well there are two way one could answer these questions.

1)  One could bring the God factor into it and said God created different people with different characteristics, skin colors, eye colors, etc....but inside we are all the same - We all have all the same organs, eat food, drink water, sleep, talk, smile, laugh and excrete waste.  God loves each of us equally no matter or our skin color or ethnicity.

2)  One could bring the science aspect into it.  By this I mean people are natually darker depending on where they are from.  People typically have more melatonin in their skin when their original origins are from hotter climates. This is to protect their skin.  People from colder climates (originally) have paler skin and lighter eyes.

Categorizing them would mean making some sort of judgment on their skin type.  I personally used explanation 1 with my children.