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Milly, age 3 months, waves her hand in front of her face and stares at her moving fingers. One-year-old Jamal tries to pull his toes to his mouth while sitting up. During toilet training, Amul laughs when he sees urine leaving his body. Children are naturally curious about bodies. Much of their sense of who they are starts with body awareness. The following tips can help parents, caregivers, and teachers support young children’s body awareness and safety.
Provide general information about the human body.
- Teach the real names for body parts and functions. Have children use those words when they talk about their bodies.
- Share picture books about bodies, with information about their parts and what they do. A librarian can help you find age-appropriate books.
- Teach games and action songs such as “Simon Says” and “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” Try substituting names of other body parts: “Hair, fingers, thighs, and feet.”
- Provide human anatomy models of the skeletal system or specific organs. Your library may have some for lending. Encourage children to draw parts of the models.
Teach body safety, consent, and respect for body autonomy.
- Model respect and consent. For example, ask a child if it’s okay before hugging them, picking them up, or rough housing with them.
- Use puppets or other storytelling to model ways to handle body autonomy. Autonomy means that each person can decide what to do with their own body. Stories can include information about parts of a person’s body that are private. They affirm that each person is in charge of whether or not someone can touch them. They remind children to tell a trusted adult if they are uncomfortable about how someone touches them.
- Help children practice firmly and loudly saying, “No!” or “Stop!” to unwelcome touch.
- Keep in mind that autonomy and consent can be complicated for children with disabilities, who may need help with toileting and mobility. For example, an adult may tell a child what they are doing during each step of a diaper change, so the child recognizes those things as safe actions. “I’m taking off the diaper. Now I’ll clean you off with this wipe.”
Be aware of these typical behaviors in young children
- asking questions about body parts, sometimes in ways that make adults uncomfortable
- becoming curious, during toilet learning, about their private parts
- laughing about certain body parts, “bathroom words”, or bathroom functions
- occasionally touching their private parts in public
- wanting to run around without clothes
Consider professional advice for these behaviors
- frequently inserting objects into their body cavities, such as sticking crayons up the nose
- intruding to watch others use the toilet or get dressed
- forcing or tricking others into removing clothes or exposing private parts
- frequently exposing private parts to others
- grabbing others’ private parts or simulating a sex act on someone else
IEL Resources
- Resource List: Body Curiosity
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