Early Childhood (Ages 3-5) early childhood cybersecurityfornextgeneration

Focus on Basics: Teach them about the concept of privacy, such as keeping personal information private. Use simple terms and analogies they can understand.

Activity 1: "My Personal Bubble" - Teaching Privacy

Objective: To help children understand the concept of privacy in a simple, relatable way.

Materials Needed:

A storybook template with illustrations depicting scenarios where a character has a "personal bubble" containing things that are special or private to them.

Colouring pages featuring the character and their personal bubble with items inside it.

Activity Description:

Storytime: Read a story about a friendly character who has a "personal bubble." This bubble contains things that are special to them, like their name, home address, and favourite toy. The story explains that just like we don't let everyone into our homes without permission, we also don't share everything about ourselves with everyone online.

Discussion: Talk about what things are inside our "personal bubble" (e.g., our full name, where we live, our family members' names) and why it's important to keep that information safe.

Colouring Activity: Children get a colouring page where they can draw their own personal bubble around the character. Inside the bubble, they can draw or write things that are special to them that they wouldn't share with strangers.

Focus on Basics: Even our youngest users must navigate the internet carefully. Just as we teach children to look both ways before crossing the street, we must also teach them to navigate the vast digital landscape cautiously. 

Activity 2: "Click Safe" - Safe Device Use

Objective: To teach children the importance of cautious interaction with devices, emphasising not clicking on everything they see.

Materials Needed:

A printable board game with a path through various internet-themed scenarios, including both safe and unsafe clicks.

A dice and game pieces.

Cards that explain each scenario in simple terms are categorised as "Safe Click" or "Unsafe Click," with illustrations for each.

Activity Description:

Game Setup: Set up the board game with paths featuring different scenarios like "A pop-up ad for free games," "An email from a friend," "A button that says 'click here for a surprise,'" etc.

Playing the Game: Children take turns rolling the dice and moving their game pieces along the path. When landing on a scenario, they draw a card that matches the scenario's category.

Safe vs. Unsafe: Each card will explain if the scenario is a "Safe Click" or an "Unsafe Click" and why. For example, a pop-up ad might be an "Unsafe Click" because it could lead to a place that's not safe for kids. The explanation should be simple: "Some pictures or buttons can trick us into going places we shouldn't. Just like we don't open the door for strangers, we don't click on things without checking with a grown-up first."

Discussion and Rewards: After playing, discuss the importance of asking a grown-up before clicking on anything online—reward participation with stickers or certificates celebrating their smart clicking choices.