Celebrating Love & Family Diversity With Story Time & Art
Today seems like the perfect day to share a story time that celebrates diversity and love. Today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day– what better time to honor caring and acceptance?! Read on to see my choices for family diversity story time, including a fun book with personalization options! Be sure to check out our simple family art project, and grab your free printable to create your own at home!
I received a free copy of Love Family to facilitate this post. All opinions expressed are my own.
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READING ABOUT FAMILY DIVERSITY
Families Are Different
Nina Pellegrini wrote and illustrated Families Are Different. The book is a little older than some of the others I chose. It’s still a beautiful representation of family diversity, told from the point of view of an adopted girl.
Love Is A Family
Roma Downey wrote Love Is A Family and Justine Gasquet illustrated the book. The story is filled with rich, vibrant images as a young girl discovers the different kind of families her classmates have.
Good Night Families
Good Night Families is a board book from Adam Gamble’s ‘Good Night’ series. The book presents a wide variety of family types in a very matter-of-fact way. Same-sex parents, foster families, half-siblings and more are included in this great choice.
One Family
George Shannon wrote One Family and Blanca Gomez illustrated the book. If you follow me on Instagram, you probably got a sneak peek at this book last year! The text is simple and rhythmic, making it perfect for young readers.
One Love
One Love was based on Bob Marley’s song. The text was adapted by Cedella Marley, and illustrations are from Vanessa Brantley-Newton. It’s not strictly a family diversity themed picture book, but I included it in the list because of it’s beautiful representation of diversity and catchy, lyrical text.
Love Family
Love Family is the newest addition to our collection of family diversity themed books. Norah Barrett Cooper wrote the story, and Joelle Nelson illustrated this sweet book. It’s a beautiful representation of the differences that exist within families, particularly multi-racial families. Loving Lion Books was so kind to send my boys the story to check out. Both of my kiddos enjoyed reading the story together, and #thelittleone has requested to hear it several times.
This particular book is extra special in it’s approach as you have the option to customize the race or ethnicity of the main characters within the story. It’s an incredible choice for children that have not been able to see their families in the books they read. As a Caucasian family, we’ve never struggled to find books featuring characters that looked like our family. It’s always been simple for my boys to find characters they identify with. Because my husband and I value tolerance and diversity, we’ve always been intentional about purchasing books that feature characters who don’t look like our family. Love Family is the perfect choice for either type of family. It’s a great addition to any bookshelf, whether you see your family within the images or not.
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FAMILY DIVERSITY & LOVE CRAFT
I put together this very simple project. It’s a great way to spend some time together as a family, and creates a beautiful piece of art to hang at home. This project was inspired by a large canvas painting #thebigone and I did during a children’s bereavement group several years ago. The different colors combine together to ultimately make one beautiful thing- much like how the diversity of a family comes together to make a beautiful family unit.
Materials:
- Washable stamp pads or craft paint.
- You’ll need one color for each member of your family.
- Glue.
- Scissors.
- 2 copies of the free ‘love makes a family printable’. (Grab yours at the end of the post!)
Directions:
- Grab all of your materials and gather your family.
- Using the stamp pads, cover the word ‘LOVE’ on one of the print outs with finger prints.
- Be sure that everyone uses their own color of ink.
- Allow the ink to dry completely.
- Cut out the letters from the stamped page.
- Glue the letters down onto the other print out.
- Hang up your family project, and celebrate family diversity all year long!
> > > LOVE MAKES A FAMILY FREE PRINTABLE < < <
What sets your family apart from others? I’d love to hear about your own family diversity in the comments below!
