Introduction

Privacy can be taught through concrete, hands-on activities that children understand and remember. This workshop presents exercises for use at home or in the classroom. Each activity includes recommended ages, materials, educational objectives, step-by-step instructions and discussion prompts. The approach is active and playful, aimed at building awareness, decision-making skills and safe habits.

Why run these activities

  • Turn abstract ideas—like "personal data", "boundaries", "consent" and "digital footprint"—into tangible experiences.
  • Promote critical thinking and empathy when deciding what to share.
  • Provide repeatable rules children can apply in daily life.

Guidance

  • Session length: 20–60 minutes.
  • Groups: suitable for individuals, pairs or small groups.
  • Adult role: facilitator and model; respect children’s responses.

Activity 1 — Data ID card (offline)

Ages: 5–10 Materials: paper, markers, scissors, stickers. Objective: recognize types of information and decide what to share.

Steps:

  1. Give each child a paper shaped like an ID card.
  2. Ask them to list or draw five public things (name, hobby) and five private items (address, phone number).
  3. Discuss which information is safe to share in different contexts (school, social apps, neighbors).

Discussion prompts:

  • Why are some details private?
  • Who needs certain information and why?

Variant: use stickers to label information as “public”, “friends”, or “private”.

Activity 2 — Boundary game (role-play)

Ages: 6–14 Materials: tape to mark spaces, cards with scenarios. Objective: understand personal and digital boundaries and how to respect them.

Steps:

  1. Mark areas with tape representing "personal space", "close friends", "public".
  2. Present scenario cards (e.g., request for photo, comment in chat) and ask children where they would place that content.
  3. Act out appropriate responses: accept, refuse, ask for help.

Discussion prompts:

  • How do you feel when someone crosses a boundary?
  • How can you ask an adult for help?

Activity 3 — Digital treasure hunt (simulated offline/online)

Ages: 8–14 Materials: clue cards, tablets or printed mock profiles and messages. Objective: spot requests that ask for too much information and practice verifying sources.

Steps:

  1. Prepare fake profiles with different privacy levels (complete, partial, anonymous).
  2. Give clues that require finding the safest account to respond to a request (e.g., sending a photo to school for a project).
  3. Discuss choices and what information to avoid.

Safety: If using real devices, disable external connections and use prepared materials only.

Activity 4 — The sharing bottle (decision game)

Ages: 7–12 Materials: a bottle or box, cards with sharing scenarios. Objective: practice decision-making and reasoning about consequences.

Steps:

  1. Children draw a card and decide together whether to share the content.
  2. They must justify their choice and propose alternatives (share only with a trusted friend, blur details).
  3. The facilitator leads a reflection on immediate and future consequences.

Activity 5 — Privacy detective (metadata and images)

Ages: 10+ Materials: printed photos or images, checklist of hidden information in images. Objective: show that photos can reveal hidden data and how to remove it.

Steps:

  1. Show examples where background details (house number, license plate, documents) reveal personal information.
  2. Use a checklist: what to remove or blur before sharing.
  3. Simulate removal (crop, blur) with simple tools or on paper.

Note: Do not use real photos of children without consent; prefer images created for the workshop.

Activity 6 — Consent maps (practicing permission)

Ages: 5–13 Materials: large paper, colored markers. Objective: learn to ask for and give consent in different situations.

Steps:

  1. Draw three concentric circles labeled “Always OK”, “Ask first”, “Never”.
  2. Provide examples of actions (take photo, tag, send location) and have children place them.
  3. Practice phrases to ask permission (e.g., “Can I tag you in this photo?”).

Activity 7 — Build your Privacy Handbook (long-term project)

Ages: 8+ Materials: notebook, stickers, printed templates, collage materials. Objective: create personal sharing rules and tools for managing accounts and passwords.

Suggested contents:

  • Simple rules ("I don’t share passwords").
  • A publish checklist.
  • Templates for messages to respond to uncomfortable requests.

Activity 8 — Settings in practice (guided exercise)

Ages: 10+ Materials: device (tablet or smartphone) with a demo account. Objective: learn key privacy and security settings and try them safely.

Steps:

  1. Create a test account.
  2. Guide children through visibility settings, friend approvals and password management.
  3. Explain app permissions and how to limit them.

Tips for parents and teachers

  • Keep activities short and repeated: repetition builds habit.
  • Model the behavior: adults should follow the same rules.
  • Avoid scaring children: use age-appropriate, practical examples.

Assessment and follow-up

  • Short oral quizzes or worksheets to check understanding.
  • Group projects summarizing privacy rules into posters.
  • Regular conversations to revisit choices and new apps/services.

Conclusion

These activities make privacy a practical skill, not just an abstract topic. The goal is to give children simple rules, decision tools and the confidence to ask for help when needed.