Two Mates Collages - Activity Instructions

Activity Description

Sometimes, what makes friends different is what makes them friends! In this activity, students identify characteristics about themselves and about their friends, and create a collage celebrating their similarities and differences. This is a ‘Tune In’ activity following on from reading Two Mates, by Melanie Prewett.

Tune In

Take a picture walk through ‘Two Mates’ and look at the similarities and differences between the two friends. Ask the children, “What are some things that we can see are similar or the same about Jack and Raf in the story?”

They both wear hats
They wear similar clothes, shorts and tshirts or singlets

Follow up with, “What things were different about Jack and Raf?

Jack has darker-coloured skin, Raf has lighter-coloured skin.
Jack has black hair, Raf has brown hair
Raf wears goggles when he’s swimming, Jack doesn’t
Raf has blue eyes, Jack has brown eyes
Raf uses a wheelchair, Jack doesn’t

Re-iterate the idea that even though the two boys have differences in the way they look, they still enjoy doing lots of things together and are still very good friends. “We noticed lots of differences between the two boys, but they are very good friends. Although they look different, there are lots of things they like doing which are the same, so they can have lots of fun together.”

Find Out

Compare some of the similarities and differences between children within your group.

Children will be asked to move to different areas of the room depending on different characteristics, and as they move around, they may notice that there are different people around them each time, highlighting the idea that we are all share some differences and some similarities.

Before you start sorting and moving, it might be worth coming up with names for each area of the room. For example, near the door, on the mat, near the bathrooms, in the block area so children know where you are asking them to move each time you are giving an instruction based on their characteristics.

You may start with, “If you have blonde hair, move close to the door. If you have brown hair, move near the toilets. If you have red hair, stay on the mat. If you have black hair, move to the block area.”

Enocurage the children to take a quick scan of who is in their group, “Notice who has moved to the same area as you and shares the same colour hair as you.”

Then list another characteristic and corresponding areas to move to. Some examples could include:

hair colour (blonde, brown, black, red, etc.)
hair type (curly, wavy, straight, etc.)
eye colour (blue, green, brown, hazel, etc.)
long sleeves/short sleeves
wearing long pants or skirt/wearing short pants or skirt
wearing blue/yellow/red
prefers pizza/sandwiches/pasta/sushi

Continue to encourage children to take note of the different children they find in their group after each characteristic to help them to recognise that no two people are alike in every way.

Take Action

Children create a collage depicting themselves and one of their friends, highlighting the physical similarities and differences they share. Provide children with a piece of cardboard (thick enough to withstand glue and collage materials) to draw a picture of themselves and their friends, highlighting the differences and similarities they share.

As children begin drawing the outline of two bodies, ask them to think of the heights of their friend in comparison to themselves, “Is your friend taller or shorter than you? Are you about the same height?”

Once the outlines are complete, it’s time to think about the sorts of clothes each child in the picture likes to wear, “What are your favourite clothes to wear? What sort of clothes does your friend like to wear?”

Now it’s time to add details, “What colour eyes do you have? What colour eyes does your friend have?” (eyes could be cut out from old magazines, use coloured stickers or use pencils and textas)

“How is your hair similar or different? What colour hair do you each have? Who’s is longer/shorter?”

Then have children add in any extra details, “Is there anything about you or your friend that you need to include?” (eg. glasses, freckles, scars, birthmarks, mobility aids, other points of difference)

When children have completed their collages, display them all together to not only celebrate the differences between friends, but the differences between everyone in the group.

Two Mates Collages

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