Help your preschooler to see that each family is unique and beautiful.
Start to teach about families with these 10 fun activities.
This article may contain affiliate links to products that may help you when homeschooling preschool.
Why Teach Kids About Families
When you teach about families, you give your preschooler a way to identify herself.
This also fosters a sense of belonging.
She will learn about her place in her family and in the world.
The concept of cultures and traditions and different family compositions may come up.
By teaching about families that are different at a young age, you are helping to make her more open and aware of different types of families.
If (when) something changes in your family, like a newborn baby or a grandparent moving in, your preschooler is already exposed to different family make-ups.
Keep reading to get some fun activities to teach about families.
This article may contain affiliate links to products that may help you when homeschooling preschool.
10 Fun Ways to Teach About Families
Make a Family Tree
Help your little one to see the people in her family by making a family tree.
Draw a Family Picture
Work with your preschooler to draw a family picture.
Let her take the lead about who to include in the family picture.
You can prompt her to talk about other people once she has included the people she can remember.
Role Play
Using dramatic play is a low-pressure way to teach about families.
Because dramatic play isn’t constantly replaying your exact situation, you can bring up families with grandparents living with them or families with only one parent.
Read Books
Books are a great way to introduce new concepts.
This is especially true when you want to teach kids about families.
If you are looking for a book list about families, check here.
Family Stories
Kids love hearing stories.
Become a storyteller of your family’s story.
Tell of their birth, when they were little, and even before birth.
Be sure it’s a story you want retold because preschoolers LOVE to share stories (even when you don’t want them to).
Create a Family Album
Print off pictures of family members and create a book filled with these pictures.
Read the book with your little ones and point out grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
If you label the pictures, this serves as a great resource when your little one wants to write these people’s names.
Create Play Dough Families
Use play dough to make people.
Work together to make different families of people.
Part of the Family Game
Cut out pictures of family members and strangers.
Have your preschooler sort out if the people are family or strangers.
Talk about the answers after all the people are sorted.
Have a Discussion
After reading books about different family make-ups, talk about what makes a family— LOVE.
Encourage your preschooler to ask questions to help clarify.
Make Family Tube People
Recycle old toilet tubes by making them into different tube people.
Cut the tube to adjust the height, add on a face, draw on clothes, and attach the hair.
Kids can play with these after you use them to teach about families.
Activities to Teach Kids about Families
One of the most important lessons to teach is to teach about families.
With these activities to teach about families, hopefully, your preschooler won’t be caught off guard when she notices a family that looks different from her own (and won’t ask questions about them in a yelling voice).