As the new school year approaches, it’s essential to create an inclusive and welcoming environment for all students. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) activities can play a significant role in helping students feel valued and respected from the first day of school. Here are five DEI activities designed for elementary students to promote understanding, empathy, and unity in your classroom.

1. Classroom Identity Collage

Objective: Encourage students to celebrate their unique backgrounds and identities.

Activity: Provide students with magazines, colored paper, and various art supplies. Ask them to create a collage that represents who they are—this could include their family traditions, favorite foods, hobbies, or anything that makes them unique. Afterward, each student shares their collage with the class, fostering an appreciation for each other’s diversity.

2. Empathy Role-Playing

Objective: Develop students’ empathy by placing them in others’ shoes.

Activity: Create scenarios where students role-play different characters who might experience various challenges (e.g., being the new kid, dealing with a misunderstanding). After the role-play, facilitate a discussion about how it felt to be in that situation and what they could do to support someone in that position.

3. My Dream School: Inclusion Edition

Objective: Inspire students to think about how to make their school a more inclusive place.

Activity: Have students imagine they are designing a new school where everyone feels welcome. They can draw a map or create a written description of what their dream school would look like, including how it would be accessible and inclusive for everyone.

4. Friendship Chain

Objective: Promote unity and the importance of friendship.

Activity: Give each student a strip of colored paper and ask them to write or draw something about what makes a good friend. Link all the strips together to create a “Friendship Chain” that can be displayed in the classroom. This visual representation of unity reminds students of the importance of kindness and support.

5. “All About Me” Culture Flags

Objective:
This activity encourages students to explore and share their own cultural backgrounds, helping to create a classroom environment rich in diversity.

Instructions:

• Provide students with a blank flag template.
• Ask them to decorate their flags with symbols, colors, and drawings that represent their cultural heritage, family traditions, or personal identity.
• Once completed, each student will present their flag to the class, explaining the significance of the elements they’ve included.

Discussion:
Talk about how each flag is unique and represents something special about each student, emphasizing the beauty of diversity in the classroom.