Public and private
Beginner concepts

Private places

Knowing the difference between public and private places is an essential skill your child needs to learn in order to keep safe and participate in the community.

Introduction

Knowing the difference between public and private places is an essential skill your child needs to learn in order to keep safe and participate in the community.

A quick and simple rule to help your child learn this is:

“Private behaviours involve private body parts and can only be done in a private place.”

Check out these pages for more information about private body parts and private behaviours.

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Conversation Starters

We are watching TV in the living room right now; do you think this is a public or private place? Can you tell me/show me why it’s___? (example: the living room is public because there are other people here)

Your bedroom is your own private place. Let’s make a sign for your door to let people know. Can you show/tell me some of the rules about private places?

What is your FAVOURITE public place? Why?

Strategies for you to try

Create a visual sign

Signs are a useful way to help your child identify and own their private places. You can create a “PRIVATE PLACE” sign for:

the toilet
the bathroom
your child’s bedroom

This can help them identify places where their private parts might be uncovered for things like toileting, personal care and self-exploration. Making a sign like this can empower your child to make decisions for themselves. It gives them the opportunity to practice giving and withdrawing consent as well as having their decisions listened to and respected.

Use games to practice differentiating between private and public places

You might also help your child differentiate between private and public places by using a categorisation game. You can also print out photos of places in your everyday life and use them to reinforce the differences between public and private places. See how Kaidee and Liam do this below:

taking their clothes off in public