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THE ACTIVITY Family Photos:
The Many Ways to Make a Family
You can use this collection of family photos to inspire a conversation with your child about various family structures. You can talk through questions or assumptions your child might have about families that look different from their own. LESSON Family Photos:
The Many Ways to Make a Family
There are many ways to make a family! Some families may have a mommy and daddy, two mommies or two daddies, or just one parent. Some families have no siblings and some have lots of siblings. Some families have grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins who live with them. Your friends’ families might be different from yours. Just like each individual person is special and unique, each family is special and unique! TIP Family Photos:
The Many Ways to Make a Family
You can also talk about different types of families when reading picture books or watching TV shows with your child — or in your everyday conversations about friends and neighbors. TO BEGIN Family Photos:
The Many Ways to Make a Family
Invite your child to look at the photos and describe what they see!
• Say, “Tell me about this family. What do you think they are like?”
• Point to each person and say, “Who do you think they are?
• You might say, “Tell me about their [skin, hair, eye] color. What do you see?”
• You can also explore differences within the family. INCLUDE YOUR CHILD Family Photos:
The Many Ways to Make a Family
Invite your child to look in the mirror or at your own family photos, and compare what they see with the people they see in the photos.
• How are you like the people you see?
• What differences do you notice?
• Look at all of these people! Point to who is like you. What is the same about you and this person?
• There are lots of ways we are different, and that makes us unique! How are these people different from you?