How To Continue Black History Teachings Year-Round

Black History Month comes to a close this weekend and with that, we're thinking about how we can continue these conversations with our little ones year-round. For parents who may be thinking the same, we've put together some ideas to foster these conversations with resources from our friends at The Conscious Kid, Mother Mag, and more!

BOOKS

We've said it before, and we'll say it again – the bookshelf is one of our greatest tools for learning. But where to start? We highly recommend checking out The Conscious Kid for amazing recommendations on books for kids of all ages. They have a great curation of books about Black history, as well as books to support conversations about race.

MUSIC

Inspired by blogger Elsie Larson, another fun idea is to pull names into a jar of different Black musical artists like Marian Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday. Pick a day each week or month (perhaps a family cleaning day) and have your little one draw a name for a fun listening party. You can look up the artist together and share a couple of fun facts about their lives and musical careers, then save your favorite ones on a bulletin board to go back to for further listening.

CURRENT EVENTS

While there is so much to learn about history, having candid conversations with your kids about current events and social issues is just as important. Because navigating these conversations isn't always easy, we looked to PBS for a little advice and found this helpful guide on How To Talk Honestly With Children About Racism. But just as we want to share the hard conversations, it's important to share the joy too, like celebrating new and exciting milestones as they happen, such as the election of our first Black Vice President – and why that matters.

MOVIES

While books are a great resource, we encourage you to explore other mediums of representation, especially for little ones who might learn best from visual learning. We love this guide from Mother Mag of 10 Kid-Friendly Black History Movies That Tackle Racism that includes an age range and conversation prompts for each movie recommendation like Hidden Figures that shares the story of Katherine Johnson and others as they navigated the 50s and 60s working for NASA. We're also looking forward to seeing Regina King play first Black Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm in an upcoming biopic!

COLORING PAGES

For kids who prefer hands on learning or just want to tap into their creative side, we recommend our Piccolina Trailblazer Coloring Pages – which are free to download and print right at home! Plus, in addition to colorable illustrations or our Trailblazer portraits, you'll also find a blurb about each of the prolific women just below her image. You can recreate our Piccolina portraits or choose your own colors for a version all your own! And don't forget to share with us on Instagram at @piccolina_kids for a chance to be featured!