Building Safe Foundations: A Toolkit Approach to Sexual Education in Early Childhood Education
In an era where child safety is paramount, early education on body awareness and boundaries is not just beneficial —it’s essential. This article explores how a tailored toolkit equips children with the tools to protect themselves.
Recent data reveals a troubling rise in sexual abuse among young children, yet early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings often lack sexual education. This gap leaves children vulnerable, without the skills to identify or respond to unsafe situations. Our thesis introduces a toolkit designed for ECEC educators to address this need. It focuses on fostering body awareness, personal boundaries, and self-advocacy, empowering children to protect themselves and enhancing safety within learning environments (Finnish National Agency for Education 2022).
Building body awareness and boundaries
Understanding one’s body is critical for safety. Children who can accurately name body parts are better equipped to communicate in risky situations (Craig 2022). The toolkit employs play-based activities—such as recognition games, puppet shows, and interactive exercises—to teach correct names for body parts and the concept of personal boundaries. During pilot testing, children engaged enthusiastically with these activities. This engagement led to increased confidence in identifying boundaries, though some hesitated when discussing private areas. Educators found that consistent encouragement and a lighthearted tone helped normalize whole-body education, breaking down initial discomfort (Ahmad et al. 2016).
Beyond naming parts, the toolkit emphasizes bodily autonomy as a foundational concept. In one memorable pilot activity, children used markers to identify “private zones” on a laminated child figure, followed by a discussion about which areas others should not touch, helping them understand how to set body boundaries. This hands-on task deepened their grasp of consent and respect (Fitch 2023). Another exercise focused on recognizing safe and unsafe situations, reinforcing the identification of trusted adults. These activities sparked rich, open discussions, enabling educators to address questions like “Why is this situation safe?” in an age-appropriate manner, further embedding the learning in a supportive context.
Empowering children through practical skills
Safety education must be actionable to be effective. The toolkit introduces the “Say No, Go, and Tell” strategy, designed to build children’s self-efficacy—their belief in their ability to act—which research links to greater resilience against unsafe situations (Bandura 2012). Through guided play, such as reading a storybook about assertiveness followed by a discussion, children practiced assertive responses, like saying “No!” in a firm voice.
The pilot also incorporated a three-step poster—“Say No,” “Get Away,” and “Tell”—as a visual anchor. In one session, children paired this activity with a storybook featuring a character who assertively said ’no’ to unwanted physical contact and boundary-crossing situations. This combination of visual and narrative reinforcement helped them internalize the strategy, with some mimicking the character’s actions during discussions.
Repetition was the key: after exploring the toolkit’s four themes—Understanding the Human Body, Personal Boundaries, Recognizing Safe and Unsafe Situations, and Self-Advocacy—children could transform abstract ideas into concrete, memorable actions. To cap the experience, a closing ceremony awarded “superhero certificates” to participants, complete with their own names written by the children themselves. This celebration not only boosted their self-assurance but also left them beaming with pride, eager to share their new “powers” with parents and peers.
Collaborative safety education: educators and parents
Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) educators are pivotal in delivering safety education, leveraging their pedagogical expertise to create trusting, engaging environments (Ukkonen-Mikkola et al. 2020). The toolkit equips them with structured, curriculum-aligned activities—like circle-time discussions and safety-themed action projects—that seamlessly embed safety lessons into daily routines (Finnish National Agency for Education 2022).
During the pilot, educators appreciated the clear instructions and adaptable formats, which allowed them to tailor activities to their group’s needs. While the toolkit currently focuses on educators, extending it with parent guidelines could amplify its reach.
Parents play a crucial complementary role, yet many hesitate to broach sexual health topics, unsure of how to start or what is appropriate (Russell et al. 2024; Schaafsma 2023). Expanding the toolkit to include parents could reinforce consistency, ensuring children hear the same empowering messages across contexts.
Early sexual education is both a necessity and a duty in safeguarding young children. Our toolkit delivers a practical, evidence-based solution, empowering children with the knowledge and skills to protect themselves through body awareness, boundary-setting, and actionable strategies. It supports educators with robust resources, fostering a safer, more confident generation.
This article is based on a thesis by Haiyan Li, Pengfei Zhang and Limin Su. You can find the thesis in Theseus. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202504247458
References:
Ahmad, S.; Ch, A. H.; Batool, A.; Sittar, K. & Malik, M. 2016. Play and Cognitive Development: Formal Operational Perspective of Piaget’s Theory, Journal of Education and Practice, 7(28), pp. 72–79. Accessed: 25 March 2025. https://research-ebsco-com.ezproxy.turkuamk.fi/linkprocessor/plink?id=e942575d-62aa-3630-ab4e-77a98ecab05f.
Bandura, A. 2012. On the functional properties of perceived self-efficacy revisited. Journal of management, 38(1), pp.9-44. Accessed: 3 February 2025.
Craig, E. 2022. Teaching Safeguarding through Books: A Content Analysis of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Books, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 31(3), pp. 257–275. Accessed: 7 February 2025. https://doi:10.1080/10538712.2021.1985672.
Fitch, J. 2023. Tips for teaching children body boundaries and safety, Contemporary Pediatrics, 40(5), p. 47. Accessed: 21 January 2025. https://research-ebsco-com.ezproxy.turkuamk.fi/linkprocessor/plink?id=19a75f54-2492-31bc-8785-a6269e996d6b.
Russell, D.H.; Trew, S.; Harris, L.; Dickson, J.; Walsh, K.; Higgins, D.J. & Smith, R. 2024. Engaging Parents in Child-Focused Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Education Strategies: A Systematic Review, Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 25(4), pp. 3082–3098. Accessed: 2 April 2025. https://doi:10.1177/15248380241235895.
Schaafsma, D. 2023. A Father’s Role in the Sexual Health Education of Their Children: A Scoping Review, Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning, 23(5), pp. 524–539. Accessed: 24 March 2025. https://research-ebsco-com.ezproxy.turkuamk.fi/linkprocessor/plink?id=bb073e72-d999-39bf-a6d0-a6449e338056.
The Finnish National Agency for Education. 2022. National core curriculum for early childhood education and care. Accessed: 3 February 2025. https://www.oph.fi/sites/default/files/documents/Varhaiskasvatussuunnitelman%20perusteet%202022_EN_final_23%20.pdf.
Ukkonen-Mikkola, T.; Yliniemi, R.; Wallin, O.; laitos, K. & Education, D. o. 2020. Varhaiskasvatuksen työ muuttuu: Muuttuuko asiantuntijuus? Tampereen yliopisto. Accessed: 30 March 2025. https://doi.org/10.37455/tt.89217.