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Appropriate touch and proximity

Description:

To be aware of where on the body it is ok to touch another person, and to recognise when it is inappropriate to touch someone.

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Section: Primary (5-11yrs) info; Secondary (11-16yrs) info

Additional information (Click to show) (Click to hide)

Activity/strategy name and materials required	How to do the activity	Key principles for doing the activity and comments
Proximity game	Have the children stand facing each other in pairs. Tell them to walk forward until they feel they're the right distance away. Discuss how close you can be to others.	Don't let it turn into a boisterous ' bumping into each other game'
Brainstorm Photos of familiar people e.g. adults leading the group, class teacher/s, head teacher, all children in the group, other children from the children's class/es, etc. photos of unfamiliar people e.g. child, baby, man, woman, police officer, shopkeeper/ market stall holder, bus driver, person at ticket booth at station etc. - from Flash-pro or internet image search	Using the pictures, have a discussion around who can you hold hands with/ cuddle and when?
Colouring activity Outline drawing of the body e.g. from "pictures, please" or "language steps" for each child red and green pens/pencils	Ask the children to colour different areas of the body, red for areas you can't touch another person on, green for areas that it would be ok to touch them.	It's ok if children colour different areas, as they may feel differently about being touched e.g. most girls will say they don't want to be touched on their chests, but boys may say it's ok