These abuse prevention activities for kids will teach children about their rights, good and bad touches, and other important concepts designed to empower children and safeguard them from abuse.

Abuse prevention activities for parents & teachers:

 

Mistake Discussion
Small Group
Sit down with your children in group time and have a discussion with them about mistakes they might have made before. Times when they might have done something bad that they didn’t mean to or later regretted. No normal child will consider themselves anything but good, and doing this exercise helps drive home the point that good people can sometimes do things they shouldn’t. Lead off with an example of yourself. Be real to your children. Tell them about a time you did something that hurt someone, though you didn’t mean to or didn’t realize it at the time. Children look up to you, and this helps them to see than even a good person in an authoritative role can make a mistake. This can also be an awesome bonding activity with your group. It will help them to respect you more and see you as more real.

Paint a Happy Touch
Art
Provide the children with a variety of bright colored paints and ask them to paint what they consider a happy touch. After they are done, Have them dictate captions about their painting to hang up or post with their picture.

Paint a Sad Touch
Art
Provide the children with a variety of dark colored paints and ask them to paint what they consider a sad touch. After they are done, Have them dictate captions about their painting to hang up or post with their picture.

That Would Make Me . . .
Part 1: Fine Motor
Provide the children with popsicle sticks, glue, and construction paper or construction paper scraps. Have them cut out and create both a smily face and a sad face. Have them glue each one onto a popsicle stick to create a happy and sad face popsicle stick puppet, and let them dry

(popsicle stick sad and happy faces..jpg in recent scan/2025 old disk foler

Part 2: Group / Small Group
After their popsicle stick faces have dried, have each child get theirs and have a seat in the group area. Have them hold one popsicle stick face in one hand and the other in the other. Have them close their eyes, and you give them different scenarios. (For example: Your brother hit you and took your cookie; A friend pushed you down; Your uncle gave you hugs; exc.) For each scenario, have them visualize how it would make them feel and then hold up either the happy or sad face to say how that would make them feel.

Finger Painting with a Twist
Art-Sensory
Put some paint out i the bowls for children to finger-paint with. Only this time, add a variety of things that will create different sensory feelings to the pain. You can add chopped up pine needle’s, dirt or gravel,

Paper Handprints
(Art-Fine Motor)
Put some paint out i the bowls for children to finger-paint with. Only this time, add a variety of things that will create different sensory feelings to the pain. You can add chopped up pine needle’s, dirt or gravel,

Hearts for those who love me
Language-Fine Motor
After reading the “Love Is” story, Have the children make hearts for each person who loves them the way the book describes. Have the children cut out heart shapes, and help them to write the name of the person on the front of the heart. Then help them to dictate a brief description of how that person loves them.

My Serious “NO” Face
Fine Motor
Set out enough paper plates for the children in your class. Provide them with a variety of art materials at the table to use, such as Markers, crayons, glue, and yarn to use for hair. Copy the expressions sheet in the resource section of this book for different expressions, or create your own from construction paper. Have the children assemble their faces using what would be their “Serious No” face. Use the time to talk about how they would make their own face when they needed to tell someone “No” in a serious manner.

 

Life Size Me
Gross Motor-Art
Using large sheets of butcher paper or rolled paper, lay them out onto the floor along with markers or crayons. (Avoid the use of pencils because there is a risk of tripping or falling during this activity, you don’t want to put a child’s eye out.) Have the child lay down onto the butcher paper while another child or the teacher traces the child’s outline onto the paper. After they are done, Provide the children with paint, markers, or crayons to decorate their clone with. Use the opportunity to talk about healthy body concepts.

Feely Box
Sensory-Language
Get out a feely box if you already have one, or make a new one by sealing up a cardboard Box with packing tape, and then cutting a hole onto the side of the box for children to stick their arms through. Cover up the opening with a small piece of cloth.

Fill the box with a variety of sensory items, such as sandpaper, Pine Cones, Cotton Balls, A damp sponge, Twigs or leave branches, Silly putty, A bag of slime, or whatever other sensory items you may have at your disposal.

Use the opportunity to talk about how all different things feel different to their body. Talk about which touches they liked best on their skin, and which ones they didn’t.

Love Pictures
Art-Language
Have children draw a picture of what love means to them, or a picture of love. After they have finished, have them dictate to you what love means to them.

Saying “No!”
Language-Science
Provide your children with a tape recorder and blank tape. Have the children practice different resistance methods into the tape recorder and play it back so they can listen to themselves.

Touch N-Tell
Group- Small group-Sensory
Take turns covering a child’s head with a paper bag. Have the teacher direct the other kids to take turns giving the child with their head covered different touches. (All appropriate, of course) The child underneath the bag has to describe how the touch felt to them in a couple quick words, and try to guess who gave them the touch. This activity can be done in group time or as a stand alone teacher directed activity.

Tasting PartySensory-Language
Throw a tasting party in your classroom to illustrate the difference in tastes among children. Use it to emphasize that touches are just like tastes. Everyone likes different things, and we need to speak up and always let others know what we prefer.

Bath Play
Dramatic Play
Set up your dramatic play area into a bath time. Set out a couple larger cardboard boxes, or some large tubs. Also add towels, Some dry wash clothes, Scrubbers, empty shampoo bottles, rubber duckies, and other bath tie props. Provide the children with spray bottles set on mist as well. Have the children take turns pretending it is bath time in their house. Use the opportunity to talk about healthy body concepts.

My Rights Flags
Fine Motor-Langauge
Using construction paper, pre-cut out shapes of the American flag. A Blue square for where the stars go, and red and white stripes on strips of construction paper. On each one of those strips, Write down a different right from the “My book of Rights” book. With older children, you can simply provide them with the strip and have them copy the words onto it. Have them assemble the flag on a piece of construction paper,