What does family mean to you? In today’s society we’ve moved past the old cliche of the “nuclear family” and the new “normal” family can mean so many different things! This week we’re talking about family, what a family is, how families can be different and who makes up our family. I came up with a few simple activities to cover the idea of “family” with my son, that you can use a modify to fit your own unique family. To wrap it all up, check out some of these recommendations from Netflix which showcase all sorts of different families, too!
Before Carter was even born I made him this family album! Each page has a different family member with the name so he can flip though and remember who everyone in our family is. You can easily make a family album online or even just print pictures out and put it together yourself!
Next we made our own family tree! I cut out the tree shape and leaves from construction paper. I printed up small pictures of family members and taped each one to it’s own leaf, then wrote everyone’s name on their leaf, too. Then, I hung up a sheet of sticky paper (contact paper) and stuck the tree on it as an invitation to play! I gave Carter all the leaves and let him hang them up around the tree as we identified and talked about each person.
Carter was proud of his tree and wanted to pose for a photo in front of it!
To wrap it up I gave Carter some crayons and paper so he could draw his family. He chose an abstract drawing, as you can see. He colored and said all the names while he colored, so I labeled them as he told me each one!
I think it’s also important to share and discuss different types of families and how each family is made up of unique members. You can check out these shows on Netflix with your kids and use them to discuss each of the different types of families you may see!
For Little Kids:
1. Lily’s Driftwood Bay
2. The Tigger Movie 3. Guess How Much I Love You: S1E5 Big Like You 4. Angelina Ballerina: Superstar Sisters
For Big Kids:
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