Use this Pride flag lesson with your children as part of your LGBTQ+ Pride month activities.
Age-appropriate Pride flag lesson for children
In this lesson your children can:
:: think about why we use flags and discuss what they can represent
:: learn about the LGBTQ+ Pride flags
:: learn about the creator of the first Pride flag, artist Gilbert Baker
:: talk about different aspects of identity: what it means, how they think about themselves, and get to know their friends and classmates better
:: make their own identity flag
The most widely recognised symbol of the LGBTQ+ community and Pride is the rainbow flag. Today, let’s think about what flags are, learn who created the rainbow flag, and create our own personal flag to celebrate our identity.
What is a flag for?
Begin with a discussion about flags. Ask your children what they know about flags:
:: What kinds of flags do we have?
:: Why do we have flags?
:: What do flags look like?
:: What designs do they have?
:: What makes a good flag design?
Flags are used to show identity. Every country has a flag. Businesses, sports teams and clubs can have flags too.
A flag can by a symbol of community, celebration and pride. They can also be used to identify opposing sides in a competition or battle.
A flag needs to be unique to the group it represents and have a bold, easily recognisable design, so that it is clear who the flag represents and is easy to see from far away.
What does the Pride Flag represent?
The LGBTQ+ community have a special flag called the Pride Flag. Have your children ever seen one, perhaps at a Pride parade? It is easily recognised as it is made of stripes of fabric in rainbow colours.
It was created by the gay artist Gilbert Baker in 1977.
Each colour of the flag has a special meaning including:
:: red to symbolise life
:: yellow for sunlight
:: turquoise for magic and art
:: and violet for spirit
The flag has changed over the years, firstly because the makers couldn’t find the right fabric to make the hot pink colour that was included!
The Pride flag today most often has six stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, and purple.
LGBTQ+ Flags
The groups within the LGBTQ+ community also have their own individual flags.
Each flag has different colours and is used to celebrate all the identities within the LGBTQ+ community.
You will see them in Pride parades and perhaps spot people wearing them as earrings or pin badges.
Some people might display more than one flag, if they belong to more than one group in the community.
Some examples of these flags include:
:: The Lesbian flag which is often shown as seven stripes of colour from red, through orange and white to pink.
:: The Transgender flag which is five stripes of blue, pink and white
:: And the Bisexual flag which shows the overlap of pink and blue.
:: You will sometimes see black and brown stripes included on a flag, to show the inclusion of people of colour.
:: There is also a Straight Ally flag, which includes black and white stripes, used to show support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Your personal identity flag
Now let’s design a personal flag that’s perfect for you!
You can use the template that’s included in the Play Academy’s ready-made Pride Unit or draw your own flag on a piece of paper. You might like to actually make your flag on fabric so you can fly it.
Think about how you can design a flag to represent your identity.
What makes you, you?
It’s up to you how you identify yourself on your flag – what to include and what to leave off.
Do you want to divide your flag into stripes, blocks or no shapes?
What colours do you want to use?
Do you want to add any pictures or symbols, perhaps to represent things you like or that are important to you or describe you?
Use coloured pencils, pens or paints to complete your own personal identity flag.
To finish you might like to draw a clear, simple frame around your art.
Download your complete ready-made Pride Unit
You can extend your LGBTQ+ Pride lessons using our Pride thematic unit lesson plans.
In our Pride Unit lesson plans your children can:
:: learn about Pride, how it started and why it is important, and make a mini book
:: take part in a Raise Your Hand pride celebration
:: learn about artist Gilbert Baker and the Pride flags, and make their own identity flag
:: add rainbows everywhere to build skills in math and literacy centres
:: learn about artist Keith Haring and create art inspired by him
Bonus Pride thematic unit printables
The Play Academy’s thematic units come with practical printables that make the lessons more engaging for your children and easier for you to teach.
No need to go searching for printables to accompany your lessons, they’re all included when you download your chosen unit.
In this Pride Unit you’ll receive these bonus printables:
:: a Pride mini book
:: a Flag template
:: Rainbow wheels for math activities
:: Rainbow number fish for math activities
:: Rainbow heart alphabet for literacy activities
:: Rainbow words sheet for spelling practice
:: Rainbow sensory writing tray insert for mark making and writing
:: Rainbow alphabet matching cards for literacy activities
:: Colour-in bookmarks to share with family, friends and in your community
How to download this Pride thematic unit
You can download this unit along with over 50 more from NurtureStore’s Play Academy.
If you are already of the Play Academy, you can download this unit straight away from our Library here.
If you are not yet a member, find out more and choose your first unit here. Your teaching is about to get a whole lot easier!
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