Teaching our children about Stranger Danger – whether using colouring pictures, quizzes, activities or stories – is an important step towards keeping kids safe when they’re away from home or school in the street, park, playground, etc. Practicing the ‘Just say NO to strangers’ rule (particularly through supervised role play) gives children confidence to deal with being approached by strangers who may try to trick them to get into a car or pretend to have a lost dog or gift for the child.
Below are a few websites that may help parents, teachers or carers to teach children about stranger danger and child protection.Several provide colouring pages, quizzes or puzzles which are a ‘non-threatening’ way of instructing children about this sensitive subject. Songs and poems are valuable tools too and there are helpful video clips and animations to reinforce the need for protecting children.
ATTENTION PARENTS! In the majority of child abuse cases the offender is somebody that the child or parent already knows. They may be in a position of responsibility or trust and have unsupervised access to the child.
Sorry! … we have temporarily removed t he links below because many are out of date and need to be refreshed or replaced. You can still Google the sites yourself though. As soon as we find time we’ll update them and republish the page.
USA’s McGruff The Crime Dog has games, videos, advice and downloads which not only provide helpful friendly guidance on stranger danger but also other important issues for children and pre-schoolers including bullying and peer pressure. Help him ‘take a bite out of crime’ … you’ll find the stranger page in the advice section under ‘Bullies and Getting Along’.
Printable Work Sheets & Colouring Pictures from a Healthy Schools Initiative come in PDF format for parents or teachers. Including colouring pages with safety messages (e.g. don’t take sweets or candy from strangers), rhyming safety rules, join the dots pictures and a lesson plan. This is a great free resource to help kindergarten or early years children.
A free Safer Strangers, Safer Buildings short film from Child’s Eye Media tells the story of a little girl who gets lost at the supermarket, and then goes on to explain what a ‘safe stranger’ or a ‘safe building’ might look like. This might be a good tool for getting children interested in managing their own safety as it’s told through a child’s eyes.
Just the first 60 seconds of this illuminating news article called ‘Safety Now – Stranger Danger’ is enough to remind both adults and children how easy it is to be tricked by a stranger. A friendly looking old man very quickly and easily manages to persuade a group of young children to help him find a ‘lost dog’; the kids’ parents were shocked and so will you be!
From the 1970s, Charley Says No To Strangers is a 1 minute animation that many parents will remember. It’s simple, memorable and just creepy enough to make children nervous about strangers; Charley the talking cat knows a lot about safety so check some of his other 1970s animations on YouTube too. Start the video at 2 minutes 17 seconds or enjoy the others first.
Safety Bear and Safety Cub are always on hand to help the Alaska State Troopers teach safety to children. They have a free printable colouring-in picture called ‘Don’t Talk To Strangers’ with a positive message that it’s ‘OK to say No’.
A simple Stranger Song is a quick and memorable way to remind children how to stay safe (there’s sometimes a pop-up advert to deal with!). This song is sung to the very memorable and well known tune of “Frère Jacques” (sometimes known as “Brother John” or “Brother Peter”) and could easily be changed to suit parents’ or teachers’ individual needs. Keep it simple!
Make an appointment with Doctor P. Body for educational activities, personal safety advice and tips. Choose either the ‘Strangers’ link or ‘Personal Safety’ link for child-friendly advice; in particular, the safety tips and rules surrounding stranger danger will be invaluable resources in a kindergarten, school or at home. The personal safety resources provide guidance and rules about bodies and inappropriate touching supported by kids’ colouring activities that are both fun and extremely important at the same time.
We support the Kidpower website’s desire to change the focus from ‘Stranger Danger’ to ‘Stranger Safety’. Sure, we use the phrase a lot but that’s because (right now) it is still very much part of popular safety vocabulary. However we can’t emphasise enough that just as much vigilance must be paid towards people that know a child and have opportunities to take advantage of their innocence or trust.
Trust the SafetyCops to offer advice for children and parents on staying safe by spotting potential dangers and avoiding them or escaping from them. We loved this …… “Don’t approach a vehicle for someone asking directions. SafetyCops say adults don’t need directions from KIDS!” They also cover important areas like setting up a secret family code word and strangers who may impersonate the police. They have a ‘preventing abduction’ page too.