Martin Luther King Day

I decided that Kailyn is old enough to start talking about the meaning of some of the holidays that we *celebrate.* Thanksgiving and Christmas were easy, but this one proved to be a little more challenging. Here's why: Kailyn has not yet noticed that some people look different than others; they're all just people. And after some thought, I decided that there was no need to have her begin to classify people based on their skin color. It always seemed silly to me, too.

So, I searched online for a crafty idea that fit her level, my supplies, and Charlie's nap time, and here is what we came up with. It was perfect. We talked about MLK's dream that everyone would be treated the same, no matter whether they had black hair or blond, were tall or short, young or old. She was most concerned that sometimes people are not nice to each other, and it was her dream that the world would be full of nice people, too.

The project started out kind of funny. She chose one color for the background, red, and then I allowed her to pick one more color, white. We tore some strips and talked about how it was kind of boring so far... we needed some more colors. So we chose another color, black, and although it looked better, another color might make it even more interesting and beautiful. Kind of like the world - the more different kinds of people we play with, the more fun we have.

So the funny part, if you know Kailyn, is that she stayed true to herself and began by lining each color up in a row, grouped away and not touching any other colors. Soooo not the point. It took a little effort and convincing that they would really like to be around other colors, but this is what we finally ended up with.