Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

• Plain paper plates
• Colored markers or crayons

Description of Activity

This hands-on activity demonstrates that people fill more than one role in their families.

Give each child at least three paper plates. Invite children to color the paper plates to look like faces of their own family members. Each child will need at least three, but allow participants to make as many as they like.

When all of the children have finished at least three plates, demonstrate how to mix and match the plates to show different family roles. For example, Susie, who is Kayla's mom, could also be Timothy's aunt. Kayla is Timothy's cousin. Timothy is Susie's nephew.

Invite volunteers to show and tell about the family members they have drawn. Talk through as many configurations as time permits. It's okay to repeat configurations. Mixing and matching will demonstrate different family make-ups.

After mixing, use one or two plates as an example. Ask if a female plate could be a mom, a daughter, or both a mom and a daughter. Do this with different plates and different roles; for example, an uncle can also be a brother, a son, a father, a stepfather, or a cousin.

Share with the class that performing more than one role in a family is a great way for people to connect to each other differently. Relate it back to the story. Silo is partner to Roy, but dad to Tango. He performs different duties as a partner than he does as a dad. This makes life more interesting.