Best Multicultural Teaching Tools for Little Learners

Since we live in a diverse world and our multiple heritages and cultures are reflected in our students’ faces, as teachers we need to intentionally make sure we have supplies and multicultural teaching tools in our classroom so our students feel represented.

We want them to know we see them, we appreciate them, and we celebrate them.

And just as important, if our classroom is not very diverse, we want to expose our students to and teach them about other cultures, heritages, and races they may not know about from their every day lives.

We can bring awareness about these other cultures by introducing our students to dolls and toys that don’t look like them which will make being around people who look different from themselves feels safe and “normal.”

To see all of our favorite BEST TEACHING TOOLS post, click here.

For a list of multicultural books click here.

Best Multicultural Teaching Tools to Celebrate Diversity

These skin color crayons, markers, colored pencils, paint and construction paper allow our kids to draw and create people who look like them. And it lets them draw and create people who don’t look like them.

 

These Hygloss Products Kid Shape Cuts Outs in different skin tones are perfect for art projects, all about me projects, and when learning about different historical figures.

 

If you have a dollhouse in your classroom or have pretend playtime, these Creative Minds Multi-Ethnic Pretend Play Family Set would make a great addition. They include a caucasian family, an African-American family, an Asian family, and a Hispanic family.

 

This Marvel Education Friends with Diverse Abilities Figure Set set is also a great addition to any dollhouse so kids can see that there are all times of diversity in the world and to be more inclusive of classmates who have different abilities.

 

Celebrate different cultures around the world during creative play with these Get Ready Kids Around The World Figures dressed in their cultural outfits.

 

Your students can mix and match these multicultural kids from around the world with this sweet Children of the World Mix and Match Multi-Cultural Puzzle.

 

Creative food with play is a favorite in every early education classroom. Introduce Multicultural Play Food with this set that includes rice, shrimp, sushi, and a taco.

 

Your students can have even more diverse food play with this adorable Melissa and Doug Sushi Set. They can channel their inner sushi chef which might have the added benefit of encouraging them to try new foods.

 

Your students can build their own tacos with this adorable Latino-food inspired Melissa and Doug Taco and Tortilla Set as they “cook” fajitas and burritos and tacos for their classmates.

 

When our kids care for baby dolls they mimic the adults in their world…the mamas and daddies who also take care of babies. These four  Soft Body Baby Dolls with different skin tones are a great way to celebrate the diversity of babies.

 

If you have Duplo Legos in your classroom, this World People Set for Exploring Family Dynamics will be a great addition to the creations they build.

 

This Melissa & Doug Children of the World Floor Puzzle that showcases children from around the world is a great way to sneak in some fine motor skills and spatial awareness skills. Plus is perfect for indoor recess.

Another jigsaw puzzle to help build students’ spatial reasoning skills and introduces them to the different regions of the world is this World Young Explorers – Jigsaw Puzzle and Learning Activity.

 

These Miniland Educational – Flexi World Kids Classroom Set diverse lacing cards are a perfect way to build up fine motor skills in your centers or for free time.

 

This Little Passports Where To? Board game is perfect for indoor recess or free time Fridays since your students will go around the world and learn about different countries, different cultures, and celebrations from all around the globe.

 

This Guess Who? Game is a fantastic game to get kids to ask questions, answer questions and use deductive reasoning skills. It’s great for early finishers or for indoor recess time.

 

This Mudpuppy Little Feminist Mini Memory Match Game is a fun way to help students build up their memories and concentration skills and learn about influential women from all over the world.

 

This My Family Builders Happy Family Card Game for Kids and Families card game will open up conversations about inclusion, multicultural diversity, and empathy for people who are different than us.

 

This My Family Builders My Magnetic Family Builders magnet game is a great way for kids to build people using diverse multicultural pieces. They can use these magnets to tell stories, write stories, or pretend.

When we intentionally have toys and tools and resources in our classrooms that represent all of our children, we’re showing them they matter, they’re important to us, and we love and celebrate the diversity in our classroom.