Living in Minneapolis or really any place in the world, the past 10 days have been some of the most uncertain times I can remember. The senseless killing of George Floyd outlined just how brutally flawed and divided our world can really be. Through all the negative, though, seeing countless communities banding together like never before to lift each other up shows a genuine love for humanity that we can only hope continues to spread.
One of the reasons I love teaching preschool is that young children don’t care that people might have different colored skin, are in a wheelchair, have two moms and no dad. What they care about is having friends who they can play, laugh and grow with. They do not discriminate, they do not judge, they do not fear differences.
I wanted to give my five year old some understanding of what is happening around the world and thought this would be a good place to start. I started by drawing the puzzle pieces on a sheet of paper. Then I provided him with “skin” colored markers, the googly eyes and the red paint for the mouths. My message to my son was simple: The puzzle is just like people, we are different shapes, colors, sizes but in the end we all fit together perfectly. Here’s to hoping this and future generations continue to fight for the equality that EVERYONE deserves!
