Orange Shirt Day Resources
Photo by chris robert on Unsplash
The Orange Shirt Society provides a framework for Orange Shirt Day events, along with resources and activities for children’s activities.
The Orange Shirt Society suggests some simple ideas to engage in reconciliation. For young children, an introduction to the concept “Every Child Matters” and talking about why people wear an orange shirt on this day.
A downloadable teacher resource workbook is available here (printed in black and white) or here (printed in colour). The guide includes a simple description of why we wear orange and not another coloured t-shirt:
We wear orange because of a little girl named Phyllis. When she went to her Indian residential school, they took away her special orange shirt that her Grandmother had bought her. When she was six years old, Phyllis wore an orange shirt to her first day of Indian residential school. It was a gift from her grandmother and she loved it. When she arrived at school, it was taken from her. At Indian residential school, kids were not allowed to speak their language or celebrate their culture….
The resource work book includes a printable design of a t-shirt for children to colour in orange, and a Every Child Matters printable poster. It also has information about animal observation and use of flowers and plants to make coloured dyes that might be adaptable to use with younger children.
Other downloadable resources on the main web page include a Every Child Matters logo (in English and in French), a guide for making sage-filled fabric Attachment Hearts, a printable Every Child Matters sticker sheet.
Other discussion ideas with preschool-aged children might include:
What do you love about your preschool/daycare? Discuss what about their learning situation makes them feel good and how that should be the same for all children. Every Child Matters, and all children should be treated equally.
CBC Kids has produced a number of Orange Shirt day videos for children, including All About Orange Shirt Day and Storytime About Orange Shirt Day (Truth and Reconciliation)
Learn about Indigenous art, culture and language.
Read picture books written by Indigenous authors.
Learn more about the cultural practices of the First Nations that host your location on their territory.