Foster racial learning and literacy:
Books and hands-on activities
Research shows that even young children are ready to talk about race and racism … and that these conversations are most effective when they occur between kids and their own parents or caregivers. But libraries and schools can be an important part of the process by making this information more accessible.
Here, find books, tools, activities, programs, and information that make conversations about race and racism easier.
We used Learning for Justice’s social justice standards, based in Louise Derman-Sparks’ core goals of her anti-bias framework, to organize these resources.
In addition to the stand-alone activities, programs, and resources listed below, you can also access the Dedicated to the Dream curricula here.
Support healthy identity growth and respect for diversity
The social justice standards for “identity” aim to “strengthen children’s sense of self and family,”+ their feelings of self-worth, and respect for others based on their “membership in multiple identity groups,”* including their families, rather than through feeling “better” than others.
Kids love to explore their ever-growing selves and families – and understanding ourselves is a key component in racial literacy! Why?
- We want kids to like themselves and build their identities based on their interests & abilities, character traits, family history & culture. In many cultures, identity – including racial identity – can often be built upon comparisons.
- Our hope is to anchor our understanding of ourselves with the idea that each human already has infinite value, rather than in unhelpful and false concepts of superiority and inferiority.
- We’ve grouped resources for identity and diversity together because as we look to name, accept, and affirm our own characteristics, cultures, personalities and identities, we want to find similarities with other ways of being and voice egalitarianism across the broad spectrum of humanity.
- Selected books represent just a few of many wonderful possibilities. Feel free to contact us to make your own suggestions, or peruse resources for finding diverse books.
Identity and respect for diversity:
Physical appearance
Activities or programs
Can you make a match? skin tone painting and accompanying name your shade, write a poem celebrating your skin tone, and create an oríkì activities
Drawing Differences program, created by arts educators Libya Doman, Khadesia Latimer and Paula Liz in collaboration with EmbraceRace
Identity and respect for diversity:
Cultures
Activities or programs
Mirrors, windows, and doors lesson and accompanying activities that follow from Dedicated to the Dream program
My Culture in Five Senses activity from EmbraceRace
My Family’s Rivers: Exploring Your Family’s Story Together activity from EmbraceRace
What do you mean, my family has a culture? activity set
Increase knowledge and develop sense of justice
Growing a sense of justice starts with providing opportunities for kids to build “cognitive and social and emotional tools to recognize hurtful behavior.”+ Then children can learn to self-examine to identify opinions based on bias or stereotypes and weave in knowledge of the “power and privilege [that] influence” historical and modern injustices.*
Skin tones and the science of skin color
Activities or programs
Can you make a match? Follow along with artist Cozbi A. Cabrera to learn how to mix a paint that matches your skin tone. Lots of follow-up activities as well.
Color to Discover: Curious about Diversity Celebrate your uniqueness plus learn about DNA and the science of skin color in this printable coloring book. Print on 8.5″ x 11″ paper to create a packet or use 3 sheets of 11″ x 17″ paper to print as a booklet.
Finding Your Roots program by Henry Louis Gates, Nina Jablonski, and UPenn
Sun in Our Skin video
History of race and racism
Picture books
Chapter books
Activities, programs, or resources
Where Will You Go? — Stories about Travel from the Let’s Learn Together series at Wilmette Public Library
Explore + Discover Together: Juneteenth
This was an experiential program more than an educational program.
Gather and Play: Juneteenth
This was an experiential program more than an educational program.
Why are we still talking about race and racism? Aha slide presentation to explain generational wealth gaps.
Understand stereotypes, essentialism, and bias
Activities or Programs
Learn about the brain and bias through optical illusions: Warm-Up Activity – how our brains process color |
Activity 2
Empower activism
Growing a sense of justice starts with providing opportunities for kids to build “cognitive and social and emotional tools to recognize hurtful behavior.”+ Then children can learn to self-examine to identify opinions based on bias or stereotypes and weave in knowledge of the “power and privilege [that] influence” historical and modern injustices.*
Activities or programs
COMING SOON: Kids Care Fun Fair: Spread Kindness
Let’s grow in antiracist thinking and Beautiful Blackbird activities
Race education programming: Dedicated to the Dream
In 2020-2022, staff1 from Evanston Public Library worked with community member Cozbi A. Cabrera to create the Dedicated to the Dream program, designed to help families grow together in their understanding of race and culture. Some of the activities above were part of this program. For your convenience, here are links to the content, which at one point was rebranded to “Curiosity Lab” when we switched to offering the materials online.
- This curriculum was devised and tested with a small group of families with children between ages 4 and 11. We believe the materials are best suited for kids in 2nd through 5th grade, but you can alter and differentiate activities as needed for your family or group.
- It’s challenging to teach kids subject matter that involves human suffering. We seek to provide a sensitive balance between sharing the truth, which is often horrific, while at the same time showing the people experiencing oppression as whole people who are not defined only by their suffering. We also wanted to avoid harm via curricular violence. We’ve done our best to thoughtfully consider our content in this important light, but every child responds in their own way to difficult information. Please preview and alter materials as needed for your family or group.
Program description
There’s never a feel-good time to talk about race & racism with our kids.
But kids make meaning about race whether or not we are part of their inner dialogue.
Let’s join the conversation … but where to begin?
Try our free, flexible, and tested curriculum – full of hands-on activities, analogies, ideas, and resources.
Together, let’s:
– affirm all shades of skin
– explore our cultural + racial identities
– learn accurate history
– talk about what we’re learning and how we’re feeling
| Workshop 1. Who Am I? It may be surprising that our first stop in our journey in learning about race is ourselves! But understanding race and growing towards antiracism are exercises in self-awareness. We want kids to like themselves and build their identities based on their interests & abilities, character traits, family history & culture. In many cultures, identity – including racial identity – can often be built upon comparisons. Our hope is to anchor our understanding of ourselves with the idea that each human already has infinite value, rather than in unhelpful and false concepts of superiority & inferiority. Workshop Objectives: – Start building cultural awareness through exploration of individual and family identity. – Learn and practice the use of mirrors, windows, and doors language to relate to others’ experiences. Curiosity Lab 1 pdf file | Curiosity Lab 1 booklet pdf (print double-sided) |
| Workshop 2. Can You Make a Match? In this workshop, you’ll get to concoct a mixture of paint that matches your own skin tone! Parents, caregivers, and leaders – be sure to watch this 2-minute video where Cozbi explains what we’re trying to accomplish. If you choose to engage in Workshop 2, please consider also using the “Sun in Our Skin” video or other resources from Workshop 3 to ensure we tell the truth about the biological and historical reasons behind the complex layers of meaning around skin color. Learn more here. Workshop Objectives: – Learn how to mix paint to match skin tone. – Opportunity to think about shades of skin in a neutral or positive way. – Increase comfort level in noticing and talking about skin tones. – Appreciate and celebrate one’s own unique shade of skin. – Appreciate different tones within the family. Curiosity Lab 2 pdf file | Curiosity Lab 2 booklet pdf (print double-sided) |
| Workshop 3. Why are there different shades of skin? What does it mean? You already know that people can look very different from each other! Have you ever wondered why? Today, you’ll learn a little bit about why that is. Workshop Objectives: – Understand there is no biological basis for race. – Humans made up race and racism. – Understand that some humans benefited from the ideas of race and racism and some humans were harmed. Curiosity Lab 3 pdf file | Curiosity Lab 3 booklet pdf (print double-sided) |
| Workshop 4. What do you mean, my family has a culture? In this workshop, we’ll explore our own family cultures. Workshop Objectives: – Question our penchant to define our own experiences as “normal” and everything else as “other.” – Understand that all members of a common group are not the same; membership in a group is only one aspect of a person’s life experience. – Understand that there are some parts of culture that are visible (surface culture), some that are partially visible (shallow culture), and some that are often invisible (deep culture). – Understand that each family has their own unique surface, shallow, and deep cultures, as well as individual self-identify. Curiosity Lab 4 pdf file | Curiosity Lab 4 booklet pdf (print double-sided) | Family Culture Tree printable poster (20″x30″) | Leaf clip art to print & cut out | Superhero game board (print on 8.5 x 11 and tape together) | Superhero game movers | World map |
| Workshop 5. Can you find the invisible stories your brain is making up? In this workshop, we’ll explore how our brains are always busy. We will start to listen to and question the thoughts that randomly pop into our minds. Workshop Objectives: – Understand that we don’t know a person’s story by looking at them. – Become aware of the patterns and stories that our brains automatically generate Introduce the language of assumptions and stereotypes. – Offer a tangible reminder to look at stories & people from multiple perspectives – the view changes as we move. Curiosity Lab 5 pdf file | Curiosity Lab 5 booklet pdf (print double-sided) |
| Workshop 6. How can I begin my antiracist journey? In this workshop, we’ll look at under-the-surface racism and consider where it comes from. We’ll also practice figuring out whether some situations have racist or antiracist ideas behind them. Workshop Objectives: – Introduce the implicitly biased idea that “white is normal” and everything else is “other” – build awareness of our white-centered world. – Introduce and define the language of racist ideas and antiracist ideas. Curiosity Lab 6 pdf file | Curiosity Lab 6 booklet pdf (print double-sided)| Identity cube (blank) printable | Identity cube (with prompts) printable | Identity expander printable |
| Workshop 7. Why are we still talking about race & racism? Many people wonder why race and racism are still important topics since there are laws against treating people unfairly because of their race. And the people of the United States elected a Black president twice, Barack Obama. But unfortunately, the racist lies that people spread long ago are still here and are still causing unfairness. In this workshop, we will learn a little bit more about why and how that is. – Begin to understand how implicit bias, generational wealth gaps, racist laws and the history of chattel slavery led to racial inequities in the United States. – Learn that enslavement and suffering are not the only narratives of the Black experience, just as there is no single “Black experience.” – Begin to discover that Black people used joy and resistance to reclaim their humanity. Curiosity Lab 7 pdf file | Curiosity Lab 7 booklet pdf (print double-sided) | Mazes | Empty BINGO Board | BINGO stickers (print on Avery 8293) |
- Sally Battle, Kellye Fleming, Carmen Francellno, Kennedy Joseph, Tracy Olasimbo, and Jessica Iverson Wu ↩︎