When talking to a child, what visual aids can we use to communicate the axiom that men and women have equal rights? Women have the right to choose any job, be it one in the uniformed services or a managerial position in a company. They also have the right to be stay-at-home mums and raise their children or to teach at a kindergarten or an elementary school. It should be a matter of individual choice, not social structure. With that in mind, we’ve prepared an arts activity that can engage the entire family or a group of pre-schoolers. Today we’re going to play with the social roles.
We will need:
- pebbles
- brushes of various sizes
- cup of water
- colourful paints (preferably acrylic)
- markers
Instruction
Here are some tips:
1. It’s best to pick smooth pebbles and they can be of any shape. Their shape will help you decide your figurine’s pose or body shape.
2. Before you make the details, cover the pebbles with a light skin tone paint. The more layers, the better the pebbles will be covered. Just remember to add a new layer of paint only once the previous one has dried.
3. If you play with younger children, ask them to outline clothes and faces on the flesh-coloured paint with a pencil before they start painting. This way they’ll be able to correct any mistakes and pay attention to detail in preparing the figurine.
4. We suggest you start with the uniformed services – they are easy to recognise (a firefighter, a police officer, a soldier or an office worker in a suit). To make things more interesting and fun, prepare some pebbles with a typical girl or woman-only clothes, e.g. a unicorn T-shirt or a maternity dress.
5. You can use a separate pebble to make a newborn baby in a sleeping bag.
6. Once the pebbles have dried, you can start to play. Change the roles of men and women. How will a woman look in a uniform of a police officer? Is it possible for women to work in the police service at all? And how will a man look in a heart-print T-shirt? Can he hold and take care of a baby?
Children will enjoy this game; it will surely make them laugh or surprise them. Games like this one, we like the most!
