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Diversity Tiles

Learn about cultural traditions and create a tile quilt to celebrate diversity.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Recycled Foam Tray

Steps

  • Step 1

    Interaction with people from different cultural backgrounds fosters empathy, tolerance, and appreciation for different perspectives and can help students develop a deeper understanding of the world. Have a discussion about the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Encourage students to talk about some of their families' cultural traditions and to research others' traditions. This could include foods eaten during certain holidays, dance celebrations for Cinco de Mayo, marching in a St. Patrick's Day parade, attending a Juneteenth carnival, etc.

  • Step 2

    Ask students to create a tile that represents a cultural and/or family tradition. Have them cut a square out of a piece of foam tray to use as a base, cover it with a thin layer of Model Magic, and then create symbols that represent the traditions out of Model Magic.

  • Step 3

    When the tiles are dry arrange them into tile quilt that celebrates the diversity in the classroom or community. They can be laid out on a table or affixed to a large piece of heavy paper and hung.

Standards

SS: Culture: Create, learn, share, and adapt to culture.

SEL: Social Awareness: Understand the perspectives of and strengths of others.

SEL: Social Awareness: Develop compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings.

Adaptations

As a "get to know you" activity early during the school, have students form pairs. Ask them to interview each other to learn what they enjoy, what traditions their family has, some fun facts they'd like others to know about them that might not be obvious, etc. Then have each pair introduce their partner to the rest of the class and note things they have in common and things that make each one unique.

Later in the school year, when students know and trust each other, address more challenging conversations. People often witness injustices but are too intimidated to say anything or just can't think of the right thing to say at the moment. Divide students into small groups and assign each one a scenario, such as overhearing a student tease a child for not speaking English well, hearing someone say "girls can't play that game," etc. Have them discuss how the situation could be handled in a positive way.