Key Takeaways
- Teaching elementary students to keep their hands to themselves is crucial for developing social skills and positive relationships.
- Physical behaviors like hitting, biting, or kicking can be replaced with positive communication skills such as using words for attention, waiting turns, and problem-solving.
- The lesson plan includes teaching the concept of ‘safe hands’ and practicing keeping hands to oneself through role-play scenarios.
- A free PDF is available for elementary educators to support the lesson on keeping hands to oneself.
Introduction: Teaching Elementary Students to Keep Hands to Yourself
Teaching elementary students to keep their hands to themselves is an important social skill for children to acquire. With Everyday Speech’s Keeping Hands to Yourself lesson, students can learn to keep their hands to themselves and replace physical behaviors with positive communication skills. To teach your next elementary lesson on keeping safe hands in the classroom make sure to download this free keeping hands to yourself PDF for elementary students!
Teaching Elementary Students to Keep Hands to Yourself
Any physical behavior: hitting, biting, or kicking, is a form of unconventional communication that can be successfully replaced by several more positive, conventional communication skills. These include using words to gain attention, waiting for a turn, and learning to problem-solve. Keeping Hands to Yourself is a foundational skill that sets children up to form positive relationships and friendships.
Lesson Plan – Using Your Keeping Hands to Yourself PDF
1. Teach the Concept of Safe Hands
Start by teaching your elementary students the concept of ‘safe hands’, or that using their hands to hit, push, or pinch another person is unacceptable. Using the language, ‘safe hands’ helps frame the replacement behavior as more positive and as a goal for your students to work towards.
2. Practice Keeping Hands to Yourself
To help elementary students understand and use the skill of keeping hands to yourself, teach positive replacement behaviors and strategies. These include, walking away from an upsetting situation, asking an adult for help, or asking for a break. Have your elementary students practice keeping safe hands by taking turns using a few role-play scenarios.
3. Use Our Free Keeping Hands to Yourself PDF
Our free PDF is our “Keeping Hands to Yourself” goal poster! Download, print, and hang up this poster in your classroom to serve as a visual reminder and reinforce the concept of keeping your hands to yourself, even when big feelings arise.
Sample Video:
If you didn’t know, we offer a free 30-day trial where you can use our thousands of video lessons & Social-Emotional Learning materials like worksheets and web games!
Related Blog Posts:
How To Address Social Skills Loss From the Pandemic
The Whole-Child Approach and Why it Matters
