Safe Hands Lesson Plan Hands & Bodies Are Safe
Classroom Tier 1 Lesson Plan
Duration 30 min
Why This Matters
Teaching safe hands and safe body helps Pre-K students develop crucial social-emotional skills, fostering a respectful classroom where everyone feels secure and can learn effectively.
Learning Objective
Students will identify and practice "safe hands" and "safe body" choices to improve self-regulation and impulse control, understanding how their actions impact themselves and others.
Prep & Tools
Review Safe Choices Presentation
Print Safe Choices Sorting Cards
Projector/Whiteboard
Prepare space for movement
Lesson Flow
1
Warm-Up: What Are Our Hands For?
5 min
Begin by asking students: "What are our hands for?" Guide answers to positive actions: hugging, drawing, building, waving, helping.
Transition: "Hands can also sometimes make unsafe choices if we're not thinking. Let's look at some safe choices together."
2
Introducing Safe Hands & Body
10 min
Display the Safe Choices Presentation and discuss:
Safe Hands: Gentle touches, hands to self vs. pushing/hitting.Safe Body: Walking feet, sitting still, feet on floor vs. running/kicking.Why? It helps everyone feel happy and safe at school.
3
Thumbs Up/Down Practice
10 min
Use the Safe Choices Sorting Cards . Describe each scenario and have students react:
Safe Choice
Unsafe Choice
Ask: "Why is that a safe/unsafe choice?" after each one.
4
Cool Down & Reflection
5 min
Quietly reflect. Ask: "Show me one way you can use safe hands or a safe body right now, without making a sound." Transition to the Safe Choices Reflection Sheet .
Safe Choices Presentation Hands & Bodies
Are Safe!
How do we use our hands and bodies at school?
Teacher Notes Welcome students and introduce the topic of how we use our hands and bodies at school.
What Are 'Safe Hands'?
SAFE
🤝 Helping and building
🎨 Drawing and waving
🏠 Hands stay to ourselves
UNSAFE
🚫 No pushing or hitting
🚫 No grabbing toys
Teacher Notes Discuss examples of safe hands (gentle touch, helping friends) and unsafe hands (pushing, hitting). Emphasize "hands to self."
What Is A 'Safe Body'?
SAFE
👣 Walking feet inside
🧘 Sitting calmly
⬇️ Feet on the floor
UNSAFE
🚫 No running inside
🚫 No kicking or jumping
Teacher Notes Discuss examples of a safe body (walking feet, sitting calmly) and unsafe body (running inside, kicking, wiggling).
Why Is It Important?
🌟
When we use safe hands and safe bodies, everyone feels happy and safe at school!
We can all learn and play together.
Teacher Notes Explain that when everyone uses safe hands and safe bodies, our classroom is a happy and safe place for everyone to learn and play.
Safe Choices Activity Cards Safe Choices Sorting Cards
Teacher Resource • Print and cut out these scenarios for the class activity.
How to Play
Show the card (or describe the scenario). Ask students to give a thumbs up for a safe choice and a thumbs down for an unsafe choice. Use the emoji icons to help younger students understand the "vibe" of the action.
👋
Scenario 1
A child is gently patting a friend on the back.
Safe Hands
🏃♂️
Scenario 2
Two children are running very fast inside the classroom.
Unsafe Body
📚
Scenario 3
A child is helping a teacher carry books carefully.
Safe Body
🦵
Scenario 4
A child is kicking their feet under the table during circle time.
Unsafe Body
😠
Scenario 5
A child is pushing another child to get to the toys first.
Unsafe Hands
🧱
Scenario 6
A child is using their hands to build with blocks.
Safe Hands
🧘♀️
Scenario 7
A child is sitting calmly on the rug, listening to a story.
Safe Body
🧸
Scenario 8
A child is reaching over to grab a toy from a friend without asking.
Unsafe Hands
Safe Choices Script Safe Choices: Teacher Script
Step-by-step dialogue and facilitator guide for the 30-minute lesson.
1
Introduction (5 Minutes)
Teacher Says: "Good morning, everyone! Let's get ready for a fun learning time. Today, we're going to talk about something really important: our hands and our bodies. What are some amazing things your hands can do? Think about it!"
Allow students to share ideas: drawing, waving, hugging, building, eating, helping, etc.
Teacher Says: "Wow, those are all wonderful things! Our hands are so helpful, aren't they? But sometimes, if we're not thinking, our hands can make choices that aren't so safe, and our bodies can too. Today, we're going to learn about how to make sure our hands and bodies are always making safe and kind choices, so everyone feels happy and safe at school!"
2
Exploring with Slides (10 Minutes)
Slide 1: Title
Dialogue: "Look at our first slide! It says, 'Hands & Bodies Are Safe!' That's our goal today, to learn how to keep them safe and kind for ourselves and our friends."
Slide 2: Safe Hands
Dialogue: "Now, let's talk about 'Safe Hands.' What do you think safe hands look like?"
Guide discussion to concepts like gentle touches, hands to self, helping, waving.
Dialogue: "That's right! Safe hands are gentle. They stay to ourselves. They help our friends. They don't push or hit or grab. Can you show me your safe hands?" (Encourage students to hold their hands still or fold them in their laps.)
Slide 3: Safe Body
Dialogue: "Great job! Now, what about a 'Safe Body'? What does a safe body look like at school?"
Guide discussion to walking feet, sitting calmly, feet on the floor.
Dialogue: "Exactly! A safe body uses walking feet indoors, sits calmly during circle time, and keeps feet on the floor. It doesn't run inside, kick, or wiggle so much that it bumps a friend. Can you show me your safe body posture for listening?" (Wait for students to model posture.)
3
Activity: Sorting Cards (10 Minutes)
Teacher Says: "Now we're going to play a game to practice! I have some special cards here. I'm going to show you a picture or tell you about something, and you're going to show me if it's a SAFE choice with a 'thumbs up' or an UNSAFE choice with a 'thumbs down'. Then we'll talk about why!"
Pro-Tip: Use the Safe Choices Sorting Cards . For each card, ask: "Why is this safe/unsafe?" and "How does this make our friends feel?"
4
Conclusion & Reflection (5 Minutes)
Teacher Says: "You all did such an amazing job today! You know so much about safe hands and safe bodies. What is one thing you learned about keeping your hands or body safe today?"
Safe Choices Cool Down Activity Safe Choices Cool Down
Post-Lesson Reflection
Teacher Instructions
Ask students to quietly reflect on what they learned about safe hands and safe bodies.
Say: "Show me one way you can use safe hands or a safe body right now, without making a sound." (e.g., hands in lap, sitting criss-cross, gentle hands together).
Acknowledge their safe choices with a quiet nod or thumbs up.
Distribute this sheet for students to draw their "Safe Self."
Name
Date
I can use my Safe Hands and Body!
Draw yourself making a safe choice at school.
Teacher Note / Scribe:
How did it feel to be safe today?
