I had never considered talking about skin colour in English class, but I received this email, which made me curious: “I’m working as an English teacher in China. When I teach 3-year-old children they are afraid of my “brown skin”. (I am African American by the way.) I try to play games with them but they won’t stand up, or join in with any of the games.”

Fear of the unknown

Firstly, it’s normal for young children to feel shy when they meet a new teacher. For sure they can even be apprehensive, or fearful. I guess your students are not used to seeing Afro Americans, or at least, not so close up! And I guess you will have to get to know them over time, just like any adult coming into their life. Be sure to get down to their level, even if that means sitting on the floor with them. And don’t tower over them, because it’s intimidating. That said, since you look different to them, talking about skin colour is going to be helpful, and it should not be a tabou subject.

Get them used to it

Talking about skin colour is a good way to get started. Bring in pictures of lots of different types of people, but all kids, so the preschoolers can relate more easily to the pictures. However famous they might be, Chinese preschool kids won’t relate much to adults, even Obama or Michael Jackson! Check out the cute pics at the top of this blog for ideas.

Bring two of each picture, the same identical picture twice – 2 Afro Americans, 2 Chinese, 2 Hispanics, 2 white kids, 2 American-Indians, and 2 red-heads. You can add to the collection over time. Have the kids sort the pictures into pairs. Then shuffle and let them do it again. Kids could sort these pictures into piles for all sorts of things, like eye colour, happy or sad, black hair and other hair colours, and brown, black or white skin.

Print your cute kids in colour in duplicate. Stick the pictures onto card, and then cover the card with plastic. That way these sets will last you for life. Otherwise, preschool kids will trash them in the first lesson. You’ll be able to use these to talk about race and colour to educate the kids, and also for all sorts of things like, the pronouns he and she, hair colour, hair type, eye colour, what they are wearing, what their names are, and so on.

Break down barriers

Use toys to break down barriers. Once your preschool class are familiar with all sorts of children, with darker and lighter skin, they may start to comprehend that it’s quite normal for others to look different. At this point, you might attempt some physical contact with the kids.

If you have a Chinese assistant, get them on board. Have them shake hands with you, stroke your skin and say how nice it is. That’s showing the young kids that it’s OK to do this and that nothing bad happens. Otherwise you could have toys or teddy bears touch your skin and say, ‘that’s nice.’

Of course, please stick to the cultural codes of the country you are teaching in. For example, in some Asian countries it is rude to touch the top of the head, since this is sacred. Any physical proximity should be within the bounds of the school’s expectations, naturally!

Find some dolls with another skin colour for the kids to touch and play with.

Then, maybe, offer a prize to each child who dares to touch your hand. The prize could be something healthy like dried fruit, if the school is OK with that. Since you have preschool children, make sure that you don’t give them something they could choke on.

Later on, as kids are getting used to you, you might put some different smells on your skin, like orange or peppermint essential oils and have the kids smell to guess what it is.

Feedback and Comments

Since this is such an interesting and sensitive topic, I would love your feedback in the comments box below. Perhaps you have a similar experience and you could share your knowledge with other teachers.

Preschool stories with different skin colours

Get your pupils used to different skin colours with my beautiful set of stories with lesson plans, games, flashcards, songs and even worksheets. A teaching kit for teaching beginners English at preschool and primary school.

Prefer a paperback?

You’ll find two paperbacks covering this set of ten stories for special days, with all kinds of kids in the stories. Please visit Amazon for the paperback version. Story book 5 and Story book 6 and this album of songs goes with them.