These community engagement teaching ideas, collected from many community engaged educators, are possible ways to elicit or further develop the community dimension of any parenting education class. They can be placed into your lesson plan wherever they may best fit: Preparation, Environment, Parent-Child Interaction, Check-in, Topic Introduction, Topic Content or Home Application.

• Spell out the word COMMUNITY and ask parents to think of a word or phrase that begins with each letter which describes some aspect of a positive community. Then discuss how we can work to build that kind of community, barriers, supports, etc.
• Write a statement/use a quote about community/culture on the board and ask parents to respond on a post-it note and post the comments or discuss in small or large group.
• Gather state, county or city planning documents pertaining to families or children and have parents critique them or respond to them jointly such as a county planning document on family services.
• Try to always plan two weeks or more on any parenting topics to allow for more depth of deliberation.
• Break parents into small groups and pose “action” questions for them to deliberate on their topic such as “What is our responsibility to the community? What could a small group of parents do to develop awareness or change about this?”
• Use a book (children’s or adult, novel or non-fiction) on a cultural issue as the basis for a parent class.
• Ask parents to role play a debate on a current issue taking many views and positions on the issue.
• Have parents brainstorm a PRO/CON, FEARS/WISHES, and FACT/MYTH lists on an important community /cultural parenting issue.
• Do a mapping exercise on a parent topic to highlight the community/cultural influences.
• Brainstorm the definition of a community or cultural dimension of a parenting issue.
• Use surfacing questions or case studies on a handout and have parents individually respond and then share in small groups.
• Have parents use or create collage/art, poems, magazine pictures, music, etc. to express their values/opinions on a community dimension.
• In small groups have parents deliberate or problem-solve a community question/issue and share results.
• Read aloud and respond in a group from a piece/book on a community dimension.
• Do reader’s theatre or role playing from a scenario written of a current community/cultural parenting concern.
• Watch a DVD/video section about a community dimension of a parenting concern and have parents respond such as Supersize Me, a video on the fast food industry.
• Have parents “vote” and share reasons by moving around the room to areas designated as a particular point of view on a cultural parenting concern.
• Bring artifacts/objects (such as cartoons, food packages, children’s videos, etc) related to a cultural parenting issue, place them on the table or circulate them in bowl/on a tray and have parents react to them aloud in the group.
• Have mock debates on a community issue with parents taking different positions.
• Ask parents to journal or write in response to a prompt/sentence regarding a community issue.
• Create or use a game to explore a community parenting concern….20 Questions, Twister, True Colors, Lotto, etc.
• Have parents interview 2 others in or out of class about an issue and report findings to group.
• Ask parents to watch TV, read news, etc. and report findings to group.
• Ask parents to do “free writing” (5 minutes without stopping) on an issue.
• Ask parents to critique the room or school site environment with a cultural parenting issue in mind i.e. the posters hanging in the room, the accessibility, etc.
• Suggest a “giving tree” or exchange within the class to model a participatory community such as volunteer positions of caring for class recycling, grocery purchasing, a clothing or toy exchange, etc.
• Have parents search for resources/data and bring in to share the following week using community resources….library, churches, resource centers, etc.
• In infant classes put quotes or community dimension resources in clear page covers and lay about the room where parents sit with their babies for them to peruse.
• Offer a “Resource Scan” by placing on a table many pertinent books, articles, quotes or other learning materials and have parents select one or two items, peruse them for a few minutes and report to the group those resources.
• Use community dates and activities such as National Night Out, political caucuses, neighborhood clean up dates, Earth Day, Cinco de Mayo, Halloween, etc. as a time to reach out to neighbors with an issue/activity of concern or connect for building community connection and security.
• Put up a community map with map pins for the families as described in the handbook. Then, surrounding the map type and place several quotes about neighborhoods/communities from the book, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important things to remember, by Fred Rogers. The title for the bulletin board could be, "Who are the People in your Neighborhood?"
• Post a large, blank piece of paper on the wall of the parent education room with a border around it. In the middle, in large letters print the question, "What's on your mind about our community? Write it here." Introduce the graffiti poster near the beginning of the semester and encourage parents to write on it. Each time a parent shares a community issue or news, hand that person a marker and ask them to write the concern on the poster. You can also ask everyone during the opening of the class to think of something to write on the poster, add it, and then share it during the discussion. Another variation is to pass post-it notes around the table for parents to write on and post onto the poster.
• Read the children's book, It Takes a Village by Jane Cowan Fletcher as a discussion starter about community building. Extend the idea by making a large poster which looks like one of the huts from the village depicted in the book (set in Africa). On the large, blank part of the hut write a question like, "What is a village?" or "What makes your community a village?" Passed post-its around the group and everyone wrote and discussed an idea then posted it. Place the poster on the wall right by the bathroom to get lots of attention.
• Divide a bulletin board into 3 sections: Home, Community, and School. Clip or have parents clip a newspaper article each week to share with the group. Ask them where they think it belongs on the board.
• Rename your Joys and Concerns/Weekly Check-in section of class to bring in the community dimension. Examples are a gardening theme: parents share their Roses, Cabbages and Garden as Whole; or Celebrations/Challenges/Community Issues, etc.