Celebrate Pride!
In this activity, children will explore the many facets and meaning of Pride.
Step 1: Gather materials.
- Special materials are not needed for this lesson. However, books that explore Pride and Pride celebrations—such as the titles in our Suggested Books section below—will provide a useful shared initial experience when introducing these topics to the children for the first time.
Step 2: Introduce activity.
- When introducing the concept of Pride, ask the children to share their own experiences if it is developmentally appropriate.
- Share one of the children's books about Pride. You can also share two different books and talk about their similarities and differences.
Step 3: Engage children in activity.
- As you discuss Pride with the younger children, keep in mind that it is often best to ground these conversations in shared real-life experiences.
- By introducing the concept of Pride through picture books, you can help foster a rudimentary understanding of these three different meanings or expressions of Pride:
- Pride is feeling good about who you are, especially when others may not always be kind.
- Pride is a month when we celebrate Rainbow families and LGBTQ+ people. Celebrations include parties, public gatherings, dressing in rainbow colors, and many other activities.
- Explain that Pride can be a parade where people of all kinds come together to celebrate who they are.
Adaptations by age
Preschoolers
- Preschoolers may ask many questions about pride celebrations and the people depicted in picture books and other media. Answer these questions succinctly, keeping in mind that preschoolers are often attempting to understand the basic concepts of types of families and relationships, how people look and act, etc.
- Visit our Apply Your Knowledge section for suggested answers to typical questions that young children ask about LGBTQ+ people.
Suggested books
- Visit our Inclusive Children’s Books section for books that explore the experiences of LGBTQ+ people, Pride, Pride colors, and Pride celebrations and parades.
- A few examples are listed below, but you'll find many more in our Inclusive Children's Book section:
- The Rainbow Parade by Emily Neilson
- This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman
- Pride Puppy by Robin Stevenson
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.” or “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?
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.