This activity can help children feel good about themselves -- inside and out.

Materials:

• Old Magazines
• Scissors
• Glue
• Construction Paper

Directions:

To begin, talk with the children about the differences between outside appearance and how people are "on the inside." Ask the children to describe their outside appearance, including:

• Their clothes
• Their hairstyles
• Their facial expressions
• Their size, skin, and hair color.

(Note to the Teacher: When discussing skin color, be sensitive to children's feelings. To help, you could read aloud such books as BLACK IS BROWN IS TAN by Arnold Adoff or NINA BONITA by Ana Maria Machado.)

Then talk about the different thoughts and feelings people have "on the inside." Ask the children to tell about their "inside self," including:

• The way they feel
• The things they like and don't like
• Things that make them angry and happy
• Their favorite foods, colors, or animals
• Things that they are interested in.

Have each child look through old magazines and cut out pictures that show something about his or her inside self. The pictures might show favorite things or feelings. Ask the children to paste the pictures to construction paper to make a collage. As they make the collage, the children can talk about why they chose the pictures.

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