Teaching Diversity and Inclusion Through Play: Diversify the Playroom

by Dr. Zabina Bhasin View Bio

Dr. Zabina Bhasin

Dr. Zabina Bhasin is a South Asian American Child Psychiatrist, Cornell-educated diversity, and inclusion (DEI) expert, and mental health expert who is affectionately called Dr. Zee by many.

She is one mom on a mission to educate our children and change the world through play. It's essential that you know that her work isn't just a project or a trend. As someone who was bullied throughout her life for being different, this is her personal story; as a child psychiatrist, it's her professional work. As someone who feels incredibly called to this - it is her life's mission.

Her expertise and the work to use games, toys, and fun to teach serious topics like diversity, inclusion, belonging, and more have taken her from news media like Good Morning America. Entrepreneur Magazine, Vogue Magazine & most recently celebrated as FORBES NEXT 1000 ENTREPRENEURS.

At In KidZ, creating toys and products designed to celebrate diversity is just the beginning. The company is expanding to broaden its reach through books, television programming, classrooms, and businesses around the country. And we're doing it all with a single goal in mind - to make diversity no longer an issue and the cultural norm.

Yes, our country is in a crisis, but the good news? Not only can we change it for our children, but we can also change it WITH our children, and she is here to prove it.

Now more than ever we need to get proactive about how we raise our kids. There is this old-fashioned belief that parents are supposed to make their kids tough and hardened before they go into the world by themselves. I think we all agree that we want our kids to stand up for themselves and be strong, but as their parents, we need to focus on teaching them kindness and love. At home with you is where they will first learn about the world, so if you teach them the value of being kind to other people, they will go into the world showing compassion before anything else. The only way we can truly make a change in this world is if we start to place kindness above anything.

Our kids are sent off to kindergarten and school with only the knowledge they have learned from you and whether you are ready for that as a parent or not is inevitable. So, why wouldn’t you spend your time with them making sure they are equipped to go out and meet the world? Through play and exposure to diversity at home, your kids will learn to associate differences with joy and wonder rather than fear and lack of understanding.

We tend to overcomplicate matters when it comes to our kids. The truth is if we started paying more attention to how our kids see the world, we would discover that most conversations do not have to be hard or must include teaching them about subjects they aren’t ready for. If we introduce toys, books, puzzles, games, and general items to their playrooms that are diverse and inclusive they will grow up having a better approach to the world. No one is born with prejudice that must be taught, so be mindful about the way you speak and comment on the people around you when you are with your kids.

Children are sponges who will pick up even the little things you might not even notice yourself.

Consequently, all the toys and books you pick out for your kids will become part of how they see the world. No one said you need to have all the answers but making sure that you let your kids see the world for its multiplicity it will make the questions easier to answer. You are building the foundation for your children in the playroom. When they grow older those lessons from the playroom will be evident in your conversations with them about how they see the world.

Start with the basics and keep in mind there is no shame in not having all the answers. When you don’t know the answer to something tell your kids that because seeing and hearing you admit that you don’t have all the answers will help make sure that your kids continue being critical thinkers. When your kids are confronted with an image that evokes questions be honest with them even when that means saying ‘I don’t know.’

Inclusion is about feeling seen. We all want to feel seen because it affirms that we are part of the collective. When we see ourselves in government, we get the sense that our needs are being met because there is a person who has a likeness to us in charge. Ask your children if there is ever any situation where they don’t see/feel themselves represented. Then ask them if they felt discouraged from doing something, they wanted to do because of it and let them know that nothing is stopping them from breaking into those spaces. What we need to tell them is that they are the ones who will change the world one day!

The more information our kids have the more secure they will feel, and this starts with inclusion. In the conversations you have with your children when they tell you about their day, but especially when they tell you about something challenging you have an opportunity to get an understanding of their perceptions of inclusivity. This might seem excessive on a regular day but try to remember that a lot of playground fights happen because someone feels left out or overlooked. Just like when you have more than one child, you have most definitely been in a situation where they argued over the same item and usually the reality is that they all want that item because the other kids want it too!

The playroom is one of the first places your kids will learn about the world. It is also one of the first places your kids will be allowed to explore their imagination. The goal is to make sure you are including items that represent all different cultures, genders, family dynamics, neurodivergence, and disabilities. The more they learn at home about the many differences between us humans the more familiar that will be to them and the more accepting they will be. For me coming from a childhood where my culture was made fun of by the other kids in my class, I know I would do anything to make sure my children will never have to experience that and that they would never make fun of anyone for their differences either.

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