There is no better time than the present to incorporate lessons about inclusion and diversity into your teaching! Your students will benefit from an appreciation of diverse cultural and social groups that will prepare them for becoming better citizens.
Activities include icebreaker lessons, tactile games, engaging texts, and more! These are guaranteed to build a classroom community of kindness by having your kids practice empathy, tolerance, and acceptance. So get ready to open your students’ minds with our list of 29 inclusion-based activities!
1. Appreciating Diversity
This simple activity focuses on a discussion about what it means to be an “includer”. Open up the floor for your students to reflect on their own experiences about a time when they felt included and then brainstorm ways they can welcome others – both in the classroom and out in the community!
Learn More: Education
2. Read and Discuss Smoky Night
This story of a Los Angeles riot is the perfect way to introduce a discussion on the power of empathy during difficult times. Your learners will be spellbound by the dramatic chain of events that take place when a group of neighbors navigate the city’s looting in order to support one another.
Learn More: Education World
3. Embrace Our Differences PowerPoint
A key part of building an inclusive classroom is teaching your kids to be proud of their uniqueness while also respecting the differences of others. This discussion-based activity will celebrate all of their talents and strengths which will go a long way in fostering an atmosphere of kindness in the classroom!
Learn More: Twinkl
4. The Invisible Boy Activity Packet
This touching story is about how small acts of kindness have big impacts on creating an inclusive classroom. Your kiddos will be able to relate to the main character’s feelings of loneliness and will be empowered to share their own experiences of feeling invisible! Watch as your class learns the value of recognizing, seeing, and appreciating others!
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
5. Watch a Kid-Friendly Video About Autism Spectrum Disorder
Building an inclusive classroom starts with understanding who we are! This animated video and accompanying activities are a simple way to teach your students about ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). Taking the time to understand ASD will help them appreciate the unique perspectives that are sure to make up their classroom and school community!
Learn More: Brain Pop
6. Play Human Bingo
BINGO never gets old and this version is perfect for making classroom connections! You can use a template or have your kids get creative and make their own. This is a fun activity that helps build a strong community by allowing everyone to feel seen and validated. Enjoy!
Learn More: Icebreaker Ideas
7. Understanding Communities and Differences
This hands-on activity is certainly a creative approach to teaching your kiddos about assumptions! They’ll have an eye-opening experience when they connect the unique variations of potatoes to the diversity found in communities. This is perfect for those who might need a hands-on experience to better understand inclusivity!
Learn More: Education
8. Become a Bucket Filler
Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is perfect for discussing the impact our actions have on others. This book makes it super easy for your learners to understand how being kind to others “fills buckets” while being mean “empties buckets”. After reading it, you might be surprised at how quickly they will look for ways to fill people up with kindness!
Learn More: Kathy Saldivar’s Teaching Portfolio
9. Celebrate Diversity with Reader’s Theater
This inclusion activity will be a tough act to follow! Your budding actors will love reading and performing these short plays to learn about what diversity means and how they can celebrate it! This is a fun way to give them a chance to shine on stage and provides an opportunity to improve their reading fluency!
Learn More: Teacher Created Materials
10. Play a Game of Scoot
Your active kiddos who need a little movement in their day will love this game! Scoot gets them out of their seats to move around the classroom as they find question cards and record if they think they are examples of someone showing acceptance or not. Get ready to Scoot your way to a strong classroom community with this fun activity!
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
11. Learning for Justice
Learning for Justice is an incredible website your kids will love. It offers a wide range of instructional resources, informational texts, and activities to help you build your inclusive classrooms. You can pick a pre-made lesson by topic or grade level that will inspire and challenge your students to think deeply about inclusivity!
Learn More: Learning For Justice
12. Building Family and Classroom Connections
This activity is great for a class that has already made some strong connections. Start by reading some different texts about families and then model a family story to help your kids brainstorm a tale of their own to share. By sharing their stories they’ll begin to see commonalities while also appreciating each other’s unique backgrounds!
Learn More: Morningside Center
13. Culture Web
In this free association activity, your children will consider the term “culture” and identify related words and ideas. This is a great starting point for a follow-up discussion where your students will create a class definition and then think of elements in their class that represent their idea of “culture”.
Learn More: Morningside Center
14. Land Acknowledgment
A land acknowledgment is an excellent way to honor the Indigenous Peoples who were the original stewards of the land where your school resides. After researching and having thoughtful class discussions, your kids will be ready to write and share a formal land acknowledgment during a school assembly, performance, or other important event.
Learn More: National Museum Of The American Indian
15. Write the World
This one is for your ‘glass half-full’ students! Encourage them to respond to Write the World’s Op-Ed Competition to identify a positive change they would like to see in the world. You’ll be amazed at their ideas to make our world a safer, more welcoming place for everyone!
Learn More: Write The World
16. Parable of the Polygons
The Parable of the Polygons is an online game-like activity to help your kids understand how segregation happens over time. This website makes complex topics like implicit bias more accessible for your young students and explores how small but intentional efforts to build inclusive spaces can benefit everyone!
Learn More: Parable Of The Polygons
17. Go Pangea
This is a modern version of pen pals that connects kids around the world in a safe online forum! Your students will write a response to a thought-provoking question and then read and comment on others’ posts, allowing discussion from a global classroom of students – it’s a small world after all!
Learn More: Go Pangea
18. 100 People Project
Understanding the sheer magnitude and diversity of Earth’s population can be tough for your students to grasp. This activity takes a “slice” of the world’s population and places it in a mock village so they can more easily comprehend how culture, language, ethnicity, gender, and age are distributed throughout the world.
Learn More: Belouga
19. Diversity and Inclusion in STEM
Celebrate diversity in the world of STEM! First Book’s calendar marks important dates that celebrate the contributions of scientists, engineers, and other STEM experts who come from diverse backgrounds and abilities. You can use this to help you plan ahead by having your kids research them and give a short presentation about this influential figure on the appointed day!
Learn More: First Book Marketplace
20. My Brother Charlie Novel Study
This book is perfect for teaching your kids about autism. This set of activities accompanies My Brother Charlie, a book about a set of twins, one of whom is autistic. The novel study will help your students develop insight into the lives of people who are differently abled, building empathy and understanding along the way.
Learn More: Enhance SEL
21. Special Olympics Unified Sports
Put inclusion into action by joining, forming, or simply learning about a Unified Special Olympics team! From basketball to soccer, your students will have a ball choosing their favorite sport while gaining a little perspective from the fierce athletes who compete!
Learn More: Special Olympics
22. Inclusive Play-Doh Mats
For your littlest learners, these inclusive Play-Doh mats provide an opportunity for every child to see themselves in your classroom materials. Pair this with a book like The Colors of Us or The Skin You Live In to prompt age-appropriate inclusive discussions about the beauty of different skin colors.
Learn More: Nurture Store
23. Identity Silhouettes
This engaging art project is a phenomenal way to celebrate all the things that make them unique. Your artists will trace their silhouettes, and then add collage materials or doodles that speak to their unique identities. Make sure to display these amazing creations so they can share and celebrate who they are with their classmates!
Learn More: Eller’s Artists
24. Classroom Family Tree
Inclusivity doesn’t just have to be confined to the walls of your classroom! Your students will love showing their classmates their background in this activity where they can bring in photos of their families to add to a class family tree! What a super way to build an understanding of what makes a family!
Learn More: Pinterest
25. Diversity Discussion Cards
Spark deep classroom discussions with these cards that are excellent for your younger students. Using the situations and question prompts is a simple way to guide them as they begin exploring the tricky topics of diversity and inclusion!
Learn More: Lakeshore
26. Our Favorite Day of the Year
If your class loves story time, then this is the perfect inclusion-based activity for them! Our Favorite Day of the Year is a thoughtful story about a class of students who all have different family traditions and ways of celebrating. Scholastic has an excellent connected lesson plan where your kids will create a class book to share about their unique and special celebrations.
Learn More: Scholastic
27. Share Your Story
Another poignant story to model inclusivity to your kiddies is this book about several children who feel nervous about fitting in on their first days of school. Your learners are sure to find a connection with this group of characters who find out that it is their differences that make them, them!
Learn More: The Curriculum Corner
28. Culture Fair
One way to involve the whole school in inclusive practices is by holding a culture fair! Invite your students’ families to share unique foods, traditional dress, and other items that showcase their culture and unique background. The whole school will enjoy learning about the diversity of their community!
Learn More: Guilderland School District
29. Bread Tasting
Breaking bread together is a great community-building tradition! Take this a step further by holding a bread-tasting party to demonstrate similarities and differences in cultures across the world! Your kiddos can sample baguettes, challah, tortillas, pão de queijo, naan, and more as they learn about their countries of origin. Who knew bread could be so diverse!?
Learn More: Carrots Are Orange
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