How to Teach Children to Learn About Themselves

Children are naturally curious, and they want to learn about themselves starting at a young age. Parents and teachers can play a key role in helping children learn about themselves. Read on to learn how to teach children how to learn about themselves.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper
• Glue
• Yarn
• Ribbon
• Scissors or safety scissors
• Colored pencils, markers or crayons
• Construction paper with different skin tones (called multicultural construction paper and paint and crayons in school ordering catalogs)
• Regular construction paper in blue, brown, green, black and golden colors
• Hand mirrors
• Large floor standing mirror

1. Keep in mind that children are naturally curious about themselves. Their questions about the color of their skin, eyes and hair cause us to realize they are ready for some self-imagining lessons.

2. Start by doing mirror play. Have the child stand in front of the large floor mirror and tell you the color of their hair, eyes and skin. Then have them compare themselves to you or another child and tell you what they see.

3. Take a large sheet of white paper and draw around the whole body of the child. Using the multicultural paints and colors of skin tone paper or skin tone crayons have the child color him or herself the color she sees in the mirror. Taking the regular crayons, markers or colored pencils add features such as eye color and hair color to their self-portrait. Using scissors or safety scissors with an adult helping cut the body out of the sheet of paper and put on the wall (it's easier to work with). Now choosing the regular colors of construction paper add curly or straight hair, short or long. Add eye color of green, brown, blue or black.

4. Take a picture of the child and post it next to the child-size cutout. Let the child dictate the same and different things they see. Using yarn or ribbon add bows or braids to the cutouts hair so it looks like the image of the child.