Create a Family

In this activity, children will explore various kinds of people figures and combine them in a variety of ways to create different types of families.

Early pride concepts

  • Family diversity
  • Gender in all of its expressions

Age groups

  • Infants/toddlers
  • Two-year-olds

Classroom areas

  • Dolls and figures

Vocabulary

  • Family
  • Names of family members, e.g., mom, dad, sister, brother, etc.

Step 1: Gather Materials.

  • Small people figures (whenever possible, use figures that do not feature strong gender stereotyping, or figures that are not gendered at all)

Step 2: Introduce Activity.

  • While the children are engaged in play with a variety of human figures, join in by introducing a family that you create.
  • Alternatively, encourage the children to create families with figures of their own choosing and then describe those families.

Step 3: Engage Children in Activity.

  • Introduce the children to a family you have created. This activity will work best if it is integrated into play that is driven by the children's interests and curiosity about different types of family members.
  • Identify each of the family members.
  • Be sure to include different types of family structures.
  • Encourage the children to create families that resemble their own or to build families that include different combinations of family members.
  • Count the family members along with the children.

Adaptations by age

Infants and toddlers
  • As the youngest children in your program play with the people figures, you can introduce family names and structures through parallel play with your own figures or by pointing to and naming the family members as the children touch, look at and play with them.
Two-year-olds
  • As the children begin to name or label the figures they play with, you can do more of the same, making sure to model examples of Rainbow families as well.
  • Incorporate counting into the play to meet your early learning standards. For example, you might say: “1, 2 daddies. This family has 2 daddies.”
Preschoolers
  • As the children begin to form their own ideas about what the family category can and cannot contain, support their creativity as they come up with different combinations of family members.
  • Challenge the limitations of the children's experiences or thinking. When confronted with families that look different from their own, children may ask questions or express confusion. Take advantage of this opportunity to introduce the idea that families are diverse.
  • Reinforce the concept of family diversity by sharing examples from children’s books or family photos in the classroom.

Suggested Books

  • My Family, Your Family  by Kathryn Cole
  • Together: A First Conversation about Love  by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli
  • Check out our Inclusive Children’s Books section for more stories that feature Rainbow families.

What Illinois Early Learning Guideline does this meet for children from birth to age three?
Developmental DomainLanguage Development, Communication and Literacy
Standard: Receptive CommunicationChildren demonstrate the ability to comprehend both verbal and nonverbal communication.
Indicators for children:
  • Recognizes and demonstrates understanding of familiar pictures, people and objects, such as saying “papa” while pointing to father (16–24 months).
  • Responds verbally and/or nonverbally to comments or questions while engaged in conversations with both peers and adults. (21—36 months).
Developmental DomainCognitive Development
Standard: Quantity and NumbersChildren demonstrate awareness of quantity, counting and numeric competencies.
Indicators for children:
  • Begins to use number words to label quantities, even though incorrect. (7–18 months)
    Begins to use “one,” “two” and “three” to identify very small quantities without counting them. (16–24 months)
  • Begins to use descriptive words for people in a more complex fashion, e.g., “He big,” “She baby.” (16–24 months)
    Begins to count objects; may count objects twice and/or skip numbers. (24–36 months)
  • Begins to identify quantity comparison, e.g., “Which family has more mommies?” (24– 36 months)

What Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards does this meet for preschoolers?
Mathematics Standard6ADemonstrate beginning understanding of numbers, number names and numerals.
  • Benchmark 6.A.ECa:

    Count with understanding and recognize “how many” in small sets up to 5.

Social Studies Standard18AExplore people, their similarities and their differences.
  • Benchmark 18.A.ECa:

    Recognize similarities and differences in people.

Social Studies Standard18BDevelop an awareness of self within the context of family.
  • Benchmark 18.B.ECa:

    Understand that each of us belongs to a family and recognize that families vary.