What you’ll need:
You will need small rocks or stones, paints, a brush or felt tips - anything that you want to decorate with.
Get painting!
Start by making sure your stones are clean and dry. Then look at the key Speak Out Stay Safe messages below together.
Encourage your child to choose part of a message to decorate their rock with. They could also write the name of their trusted adult or even the Childline number 08001111 onto their stones.
Their colourful creations can be kept as a reminder of important keeping safe messages. You can even make your own stone garden too!
Help kids learn and remember that:
- Every child has the right to speak out and stay safe.
- Making a child feel sad, scared or worried is never OK and is never their fault.
- If they're ever worried they know who to talk to, so they can get help.
- Whatever their worry, they can always call Childline on 0800 1111 or visit childline.org.uk/kids.
Giving children a chance to learn through a playful and hands-on experience helps them make sense of these important staying safe messages and remember them.
Getting creative is great for kids because they own what they make. Rock Painting is a crafty way to spend some fun time together – encouraging their inner artist while also creating visual reminders of important safety messages so that they lean what to do if they ever feel scared, worried or upset by something. It’s also a great way to boost self-esteem – and feeling proud of their creations will help them recall the message behind them.
While you paint and decorate, you can ask questions and start conversations about safety – so your children understand that their trusted adult is there for them whatever they want to talk about.
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How to have conversations about safety with children
- Whether it’s during one of our activities or you’re simply talking with your child – allow them space to speak and explore.
- Ask open questions about how they feel. You could ask:
- How did you feel during this activity?
- What did you think of the activity? Why?
- What part of the activity do you think is the most important?
- Which adults do you trust and feel comfortable talking about your worries with?
- What could you do if you’re worried about something?
- Feel free to share your own thoughts with them too – this can help them feel more comfortable sharing.
- Make sure your child knows you’re listening and that you’re there for them.
- Ensure you respond appropriately if a child tells you they’ve been hurt.
Resources and support for parents, carers and kids
Childline is always here for children – whatever their worry. Your child can always contact a Childline counsellor on the phone, online with 1-2-1 chat or by email. The Childline website has lots of useful, age-appropriate resources they can use for support:
- Find out about contacting Childline - or watch our video about what happens when you call.
- There are also lots of ways for deaf, Deaf and hard of hearing children can get support from Childline.
- Get advice written specially for Under 12s about anything that might be worrying them.
- Visit our Buddy Zone for more safety advice.
- Playing Childline’s games is a safe way to relax and play online.
- Bust stress and feel calmer with Childline’s Build your happy place.
We have lots of advice for parents and carers to help with anything that might be worrying you. You can also call our helpline if you have any questions or need any support.
- Get useful resources and advice about a range of topics from our support for parents hub.
- Join the 1.5 million parents who have started important conversations about sexual abuse with their kids using Talk PANTS, the Underwear Rule.
- Read all about positive parenting and how it can help your kids in our guide.
- Visit our Online Safety Hub for advice and information on a range of different online safety topics, including gaming, social media, sharing nudes, parental controles and more.
Why learning to speak out is important
In the average primary school class, at least 2 children have suffered abuse or neglect.
1 in 3 children sexually abused by an adult did not tell anyone what had happened to them.
On average, a child contacts Childline every 25 seconds. We're here when no one else is listening.
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We know it can be hard to talk about difficult topics at home – but making sure your children know they can tell you, a trusted adult, or a Childline counsellor about their worries means we can be here if a child needs us.
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