How can you help and support your child in the area of social studies, also known as the study of people? Create activities that address the following areas.
- Understanding how people live today and how they lived in the past
- Talking about people from different cultures and backgrounds
- Knowing how people work, solve problems, and get along with others
- Talking about self, family members, neighborhood, and the community
What is happening in your world? What does your neighborhood look like? We're making maps, playing games, and expressing ourselves! Community helpers are definitely something that kids will talk about in kindergarten. This topic also makes me start singing "People in Your Neighborhood" from Sesame Street! Fortunately I am a children's librarian, so it's not quite as weird if I am singing. Honestly, I think people would find it weird if I wasn't singing or doing something others may view as "crazy." It's why I went into this line of work! I also have lots of fun talking about my job during community helper day at outreach visits. Sorry to anyone who had to follow me because I got those kiddos fired up!
Make an all about me book
This is a popular first day of school activity. Even in 2nd and 3rd grade, my girls will be doing this. It's a great opportunity for parents and caregivers to ask children questions and encourage them to build upon those narrative skills. Get out some paper, some crayons, and craft supplies and start creating. When they are finished, ask them to tell you all about their book. It's a great opportunity to introduce some million dollar words during your conversation.
Map maker, map maker, make me a map
Show children examples of different maps and then encourage them to make their own. They can make a map of their bedroom, their house, and even their neighborhood. This was actually an assignment my daughter had in first grade last year. It doesn't hurt to start building these skills now so you are ready for later!
Follow the rules
There are rules everywhere, especially in school. Work together to create your own list of family rules. Play a board game together so they can see those have rules to follow. Ask the kids to talk about rules they think they will have to follow in school.
Dramatic play
Dramatic play is a great way for kids to explore and discover. Gather costumes, props, and other objects and encourage kids to pretend to be different community helpers. Talk to them about what they are doing and why they are doing it. Take a walk or drive through your local neighborhood and talk about what different people do to help the community.
Photo fun
Look through photo albums and talk about what they see. This is a great way to talk about different family members. It's really fun to show baby pictures and have kids guess who they are. Tell the kids about where they come from. Check out books from your library or go online to show them more about where their family comes from.
Around the world in your living room
Talk about people from different cultures and backgrounds. You could do this by making a special meal, listening to music, or learning more about a holiday. Encourage kids to explore, value, and celebrate differences. Once all this Covid madness goes away, you can invite people over and enjoy such a celebration together. My library has a database called Culture Grams that rocks! Check with yours to see if they have this database or something similiar. You can also check out books about different countries, religions, or cultural celebrations.
Body identification
Other activities that you can do include playing games like Simon Says or singing the Hokey Pokey to help kids learn to identify parts of the body. "Simon says pat your head." "You put your right hand in." You get it. Singing and dancing to children's music is another activity you can do. Bonus points for getting exercise and having fun while you do it!
Books
Okay, so I have a lot of suggestions for this post, and I even narrowed down the list! One book that I can vividly recall from my childhood that is still in circulation is People written and illustrated by Peter Spier. It emphasizes the differences of the billions of people on Earth. I loved it. I swear I checked it out just about every time I went to the library as a kid. It must have been the beginning of developing my people-loving, extroverted self! Honestly though, I always loved checking out books and learning about different countries seeing how people are so alike and so different all at the same time. Atlases and geography books fascinated me. It's funny that I grew up having such a horrible sense of direction after all those maps from my youth! Social studies was always my favorite subject in elementary school. I was also a Girl Scout and loved all the cultural activities I got to explore working on badges. Some of the most beautiful picture books I have ever seen could also fit into this category. Learning about different cultures and backgrounds continues to fascinate me as an adult. We can learn and grow so much from the stories of others.
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| Who else read this book as a kid? |
You can find nonfiction books in 100s, 200s, 300s and 900s that cover these different topics. Honestly, you could probably find something in every Dewey Decimal category if you really tried, but those are the biggies. Some keywords to search for fiction books include family, community, identity, culture, diversity, population, personality, individuality, customs, holidays, occupations, environment, and multicultural. Again, this is a long list, but I am barely scratching the surface. Ask your local librarian for some of their favorite titles. It's all about getting different perspectives!
- I am brown / Ashok Banker, Sandhya Prabhat
- Taking time / Jo Loring-Fisher
- Swing / Michael Hall
- Our favorite day of the year / written by A.E. Ali ; illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell
- Lulu the one and only / by Lynnette Mawhinney, PhD ; illustrated by Jennie Poh
- What if? : what makes you different makes you amazing! / Sandra Magsamen
- One big heart : a celebration of being more alike than different / written by Linsey Davis with Beverly Davis ; illustrated by Lucy Fleming
- Intersection allies : we make room for all / by Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council, and Carolyn Choi ; illustrations by Ashley Seil Smith
- I just like you. / Suzanne Bloom
- I'm an immigrant too! / Mem Fox ; illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh
- We've got the whole world in our hands / Rafael López
- We're all wonders / written and illustrated by R. J. Palacio
- Why am I me? / words by Paige Britt ; pictures by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko
- What's the difference? : being different is amazing / Doyin Richards
- One earth / written by Eileen Spinelli ; illustrated by Rogério Coelho
- Love the earth / Julian Lennon with Bart Davis ; illustrated by Smiljana Coh
- Greta and the giants : Inspired by Greta Thunberg's stand to save the world / [written by] Zoë Tucker ; [illustrated by] Zoe Persico
- The whole wide world and me / Toni Yuly
- The family tree / David McPhail
- The hello, goodbye window / story by Norton Juster ; pictures by Chris Raschka
- From my window / written by Otávio Júnior ; illustrated by Vanina Starkoff ; translated by Beatriz C. Dias
- Ways to welcome / Linda Ashman ; pictures by Joey Chou
- Drum dream girl : how one girl's courage changed music / poem by Margarita Engle ; illustrations by Rafael López
- Happy in our skin / Fran Manushkin ; illustrated by Lauren Tobia
- If kids ran the world / Leo & Diane Dillon
- All kinds of families / by Suzanne Lang ; illustrated by Max Lang
- Antiracist Baby / Ibram X. Kendi ; illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky
- Common threads : Adam's day at the market / by Huda Essa ; illustrated by Mercé Tous
- I am the world / Charles Smith, Jr
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