We are all alike, but all different… and all the variety makes a beautiful whole!

The past week was inclusion week at my school, “Being Kind is Cool!”  I thought this was a perfect theme for the week before Valentine’s Day, when we should be more kind and caring to others.  We read a great book,  We Are All Alike, We Are All Different, written and illustrated by children almost 20 years ago, and danced with scarves and various instruments to songs about peace, love and being kind and friendly.  (One of my favorites is the kids classic, Skinnarmarink-I Love You!)

During our calming down (and supposedly quieter) moment, I showed them this shawl I made last year from of bits of yarn I had been saving from other projects, plus a few scraps given to me from friends, many less than 1″ diameter balls.  Everyone chorused, “lots of yarn!” with most of them realizingimmediately that it was made from many different yarns.  The preschool children enjoyed discovering that all the yarns were not bright, many are muted or neutral.  Some children tried to figure out where I had twisted together skinny baby yarn with a fragile (like eyelash) yarn to make it thick and strong enough.  They especially enjoyed touching the loose yarns I’d brought,  especially the fluffy ones.  One boy said if he tried to wear the shawl he would fall over!  The kids agreed that all the different colors work together to make it pretty.

I remember the first time one of my daughters saw the movie Cinderella.  She wrinkled up her nose and said, “How could she have had ugly stepsisters, Mommy?  All children are beautiful!”  I told her she was absolutely right (followed by discussion of the stepsisters’ behavior).

I was so happy to hear the about this year’s Gerber Baby of the year, just announced this week!  Kudos to Gerber!  

 All Children Are Beautiful