Come and see all of our families. They are different, just like you and me. See how we live together happily. It's fun to be part of our family. Our family. Our family.
Hi, my name's Henry and I'm five. Come and meet my family. I live in a town outside London and I have a little sister called Sophie. Sophie is three, and sometimes we play football together. I like Sophie because she makes me laugh.
CHICKEN SQUAWKING SOUND EFFECT
LAUGHTER
We live with our mummy and we love playing football together, but sometimes she cheats. When Mummy cheats it makes me angry. Grr, grr, grr!
You ready?
And she does not score! And he scores! We also live with Mama. We have two mummies, and they are both nurses. My favourite thing to do with Mama is cooking and we like making spaghetti.
Spaghetti!
ALL: This is our family!
HENRY: My favourite thing about my family is we all have fun.
MUMMY: Oh, no!
HENRY: Oh, yes! Whoo! Grr, grr-grr-grr-grr, grr!
Sometimes we like to be quiet.
MUMMY: And sometimes we like to be…
ALL: Loud!
MUMMY: Hold on tight. And you're the koala in the tree!
HENRY: I'm the strongest.
MUMMY: Are you kidding me?
MAMA: Ooh.
MUMMY: Look at my muscles.
MAMA: Look at these muscles.
MUMMY AND MAMA: Let's see Sophie's!
MAMA: Whoo! She's pretty strong.
HENRY: But look at those! I've been hiding those fellas.
LAUGHTER
ALL SHOUT
HENRY: Mummy does sports.
MUMMY: Yeah. And what does Mama do?
HENRY: Baking.
MAMA: Henry, I'm about to start dinner. Do you want to come and help?
HENRY: Yes, spaghetti and meatballs! Yay! We like chefs.
MAMA: We like chefs. We like to pretend to be chefs, don't we? Yes.
HENRY: Na-na-na!
MAMA: So I'm going to pop this in here and then you can use your hands. So do you want to help pop it in there?
HENRY: Wow, it's a cuboid shape.
MAMA: Use your hands and just mix… There you go. So what do you think the difference is between me and Mummy?
HENRY: You both do different jobs.
MAMA: Different jobs around the house, don't we? Yeah.
HENRY: You're the chef in our house. And Mummy puts the bins out on Mondays.
MAMA: Yeah, Mummy puts all the bins out, doesn't she? What's the difference between Mummy and Mama picking you up from school?
HENRY: Mummy tells jokes, and with you we make up jokes.
What did the police cat say to the other cat?
MAMA: I don't know.
HENRY: Stop in the name of the paw!
We tell lots of jokes.
MAMA: And they're so funny, aren't they?
HENRY: Yes.
MAMA: Well, my ones are funny.
HENRY: My ones are even better!
MAMA GASPS
MAMA: OK, right, I'm going to drain the spaghetti. You go and get Mummy and lay the table, OK?
HENRY: This one goes here, and then the knife goes here. Spoons go at the top. This is where you're going to sit, Mummy. And this is where Mama's going to sit. That's where I'm going to sit.
HENRY: My mummies show me they love me by tucking me in at bed and giving me a kiss and reading me stories.
MAMA: Yes. Aw!
MAMA: There you are.
MUMMY: Thank you so much, Henry and Mama.
HENRY: Wow, this is sure amazing!
MAMA: Right, you OK?
MAMA: Oh, look at that. Oh… Wow.
HENRY: The best thing about having two mummies is double cuddles.
MUMMY: Oh! We love cuddles!
MAMA: You're so cuddly!
SOPHIE: Now only cuddle Henry.
MUMMY: Only cuddle Henry.
LAUGHTER
MUMMY: Oh!
MAMA: Whoa!
LAUGHTER
I hope you enjoyed meeting our family.
ALL: Bye!
Video summary
5-year-old Henry introduces us to his home life with his Mama, Mummy and little sister, Sophie.
Teacher Notes
Henry shows us his family dynamic and we see how his mums love and care for him and Sophie.
The Notes below are taken from the complete Teachers' Notes document.
Learning objective
To demonstrate the love and care that same sex parents give to their children.
Key questions
Before the video:
- Can you describe any families which look similar / different to your family?
- Who is in a family?
- How do parents show that they love and care for their children?
- What kinds of different things do parents do in a family?
- What kinds of things do different people do together in a family?
During / after the video:
- How do Henry's mums care for him and his sister in different ways?
- What different things do Henry’s mums do with Henry and his sister?
- How does Henry’s family show that they love and care for one another?
- Does having two mums make a difference to the love and care in Henry's family?
After the video:
- Do all families have a mummy and a daddy?
- How is Henry's family similar to / like other families?
- How does your family look similar and different to Henry’s family?
- Who loves and cares for you in your family?
- How do they show you love and care?
- What do different people do together in your family?
Suggested activities
- Gather a selection of diverse images showing a range of different types of family - eg from books, films, TV programmes, magazines, etc. Ask children to discuss any differences or similarities between the families, and any similarities or differences to their own families.
- Ask children to create a ‘recipe for a happy family’ using different feelings and behaviours that they have identified. Ask them to choose five ‘ingredients’ to make a happy family. Would these ingredients still be the same however a family looked? (Use the images to help if necessary - eg would the ingredients apply to a family with two mums / dads as well as one with a mum and a dad, or with just a mum or dad, etc?)
- Make a class list of all the things that families might do together, or ask children to identify the people in their families with whom they do certain things.
- Play ‘Find someone who’ bingo by asking children to find someone in the class whose family has particular similarities and particular differences.
Helping out. video
5-year-old Buster and brother Dexter show us how they help out around the busy family farm and how their responsibilities will change as they get older.
Showing respect. video
7-year-old Eden and her younger sister Ava show the importance of understanding boundaries and having respect for other members of the family.
When families change and grow. video
8-year-old Alexa and younger brother Archie's family changed when their mum died. But things changed again and now they have a step-mum and a half-sister.
