Young Hearts Open Minds™ Resources
As parents and caregivers, you want your child to succeed in school, work, and life. Your children will be tomorrow’s leaders, working and living alongside this rich diversity of people. Young Hearts Open Minds™ helps your child grow up to embrace differences and thrive in this increasingly diverse world.
Young Hearts Open Minds™ reaches children at their earliest stages of development – at the first moments they start to notice and feel differences between themselves and their peers – and to make judgments and develop biases about those differences. We combine science and developmentally appropriate best practices – from using play and small group conversations to storytelling and a child’s own artwork – to create an environment that is safe, open, interactive, and consistent, and fosters a strong sense of self-worth and sense of belonging.
Learn more by watching the following 3 short videos, created to introduce Young Hearts Open Minds™ to the parents whose children attend daycares and preschools that use the Young Hearts Open Minds™ program.
Introduction to Young Hearts Open Minds™ (2 min)
How race bias develops in young children (4:00 min)
How to celebrate diversity at home (3:35 min)
Additional Resources
There are many great resources online for parents, caregivers, educators, and kids to explore and learn about diversity – and how to discuss diversity with a very young child. Three good resources are the Early Risers Podcast, Sesame Workshop, and PBS Kids.
Early Risers Podcast
- How Babies Start to Learn About Race
- Bias and the Developing Brain
- Early Risers: Wisdom From Our Guests
Sesame Workshop
- Coming Together – Sesame Workshop
- Never Too Young: Ages and Stages of Racial Understanding – Sesame Workshop
- Sesame Street: What is Racism? | #ComingTogether – YouTube
PBS Kids
- What is Race? Having the Conversation With Young Children
- How to Use Children’s Books to Talk About Race and Racism
- Talking to Young Children About Race and Racism