E-safety – Early Years
Introduction
Early years’ children will not naturally be aware of the dangers of the internet because their use of it will be minimal compared to older children. It is still very important to introduce the positives and the negatives of being online. Below are some activities and resources you can use with the children, which also form nice discussion points. In many ways on-line safely can be connected to general safety discussions; not talking to strangers, if something is wrong tell an adult you trust etc.
Hector’s World
Hector’s World was part of the Thinkuknow website for 5-7 year olds but the videos are in our Key Stage 1 E-safety Pack. There are a series of videos with Hector the dolphin and his friends finding out about the dangers of the internet, sharing tips for staying safe online; personal information, online gaming etc.
Smartie the Penguin
Smartie the Penguin is a story which can be downloaded as a PowerPoint for the relevant age group (there is one for Reception) and is similar to Hector’s world as Smartie learns about staying safe online. There is also a demonstration video lesson on the website showing how it could be delivered.
Sharing messages online
A real-world experiment you could try is to share a picture and message online (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) that prompts replies to see how far a message can get and in how much time. Also on Twitter for example, under each tweet is tweet activity to see the number of people who have seen the tweet.
Penguin Pig
Penguin Pig is a lovely book for 5-7 year olds that shares the message of how things on the internet are not always what they say they are.
