Teaching dc to trust their gut about people

[Think of Winter]

My 3 1/2 yr ds "doesn't like" a handful of people, all men with dark coloring and skin. I want to encourage him to trust his gut, but at the same time, I don't want him to be afraid of people who look different. What ds says is "I don't like him because he has black hair." One man is a bit off-putting, so I understand ds's fear. But one is his endocrinologist, who really is a nice man (I have highly-tuned people radar) and makes a lot of effort to be approachable while respecting ds's feelings.

Looking for ideas!

[bdavis337]

Has he ever had a bad or difficult experience with a dark skinned person, man or woman?

At age 3 1/2, you might try some library books about physical differences and how we're all the same on the inside.

When you color pictures together, perhaps you could deliberately color some folks with purple, green or red skin. Talk about how it's the inside of a person that counts.

Do body tracings of yourself, your son and your husband. Let your son decorate what you look like INSIDE and out, and hang them up.

[HappyGoLucky]

There is a book called Protecting the Gift that talks alot about encouraging children to trust their gut about people. It might have some suggestions on how to fine-tune those feelings. Just a thought.