At a glance: 

• Use everyday conversations, stories, songs, and role-play to help your child understand that their body belongs to them and that private parts deserve special care and respect.

• Empower your child to recognise and respond to unsafe situations. 

• Help children understand the difference between safe and unsafe touch, identify trusted adults, and remember the simple steps: Say “NO, GO, TELL”. 

As your child grows, they will likely spend more time in preschool, enrichment classes, playdates, and other activities without you by their side. This makes the preschool years an ideal time to teach body safety in a calm, natural, and age-appropriate way.  

Children at the preschool ages learn best through repetition, songs, stories, and role-play. Rather than having one serious conversation, think of body safety as many short chats woven into everyday life. 

Just as we teach our children that some belongings are special and not for everyone to use, we can teach them that some parts of their body are private.   

A simple way to explain it is: 

Your body belongs to you. Most parts of our body are public, like our hands and feet. But some parts are private and should be covered by our swimsuit or underwear.

Using proper names for body parts helps children communicate clearly and confidently if they ever need help. 

You can also introduce a simple song to help them remember: 

The Swimsuit Song (Tune: “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”) 

My body’s special, it belongs to me, 

There are parts that others shouldn’t see. 

Covered by my swimsuit, they stay private every day, 

If someone tries to touch them, 

I can speak up right away! 

My body’s special, it belongs to me, 

I can always tell a grown-up safely. 

At this age, as parents we can keep our message factual and matter of fact. The goal is not to make children fearful of their bodies, or overly wary of strangers, but to help them understand that private parts deserve special care and respect.