Key Messages

  • Some people have a typical male body.
  • Some people have a typical female body.
  • I know the name for all my body parts.
  • Private body parts have a name and it’s okay to use them.
  • All bodies are different.

Learning Intention

  • Learn the names for the ‘typical’ male and female genitals.
  • Identify private body parts and be able to name them correctly.

Time

30 minutes.

Required Resources

  • Butcher’s paper to trace body outlines (or you can use the sample body outline provided as a resource at the end of this activity and enlarge them to A3 size).
Download Required Resources

Teaching Notes

It is important students know that every part of our body has a name.
It is appropriate for them to know and name the main external parts of the body and the agreed names for the external sexual parts, the penis, vulva, breast and buttocks (bottom). It is also important for children to be able to identify their body parts and that most people have either male or female genitals. Some people are intersex.

The correct names for private body parts can give students greater comfort in discussing their growth and development. This activity also takes the opportunity to help the students identify feelings about gender when talking about the body. It helps to establish school as a safe place to acquire information and ask questions.

It is important to note that all bodies are different. This can include differences in how someone's body looks or how someone feels about their gender. When we discuss bodies, we often separate them into two categories – male and female. People who are intersex, transgender or non-binary may not fit exactly into either of these categories. Students should be encouraged to apply the information that is fitting for them and their individual body.

Procedure

  • Tell the students you are going to talk about bodies today.
  • You can sing a song about the body, for example, ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ or ‘Hokey Pokey’.
  • Ask students how a doctor would know if a baby is a boy or a girl when it is born? Guide students to the idea that doctors usually assign gender based on what type of body parts a baby has. Most babies have either a male body or a female body.
  • Ask if students know any words for body parts that relate to most male or most female bodies.Praise students who were brave enough to volunteer the names of sexual body parts, whether they were the proper, scientific or ‘science-type’ names, or informal, home names. If the students volunteer their home names for the sexual body part, provide them with the proper name too.
  • Draw two child-sized body outlines (or use the sample picture provided at the end of this learning activity):
  • Stick the outlines up on the whiteboard leaving enough space between them for writing down parts of the body that all bodies have in common.
  • Ask the students to name all the parts of the body they can think of that all bodies have. Write these in between the outlines.
  • Ask the students to name the body parts that only a male body has: penis, scrotum and testicles. As they call them out write these on the whiteboard.
  • Now ask the students to identify some female body parts vulva, uterus and vagina. As they call them out write these on the whiteboard.
  • Reinforce that most parts the same and some that are different.
  • Students may name the uterus and ovaries. While we are not reaching for that level of knowledge at this stage, it is appropriate to explain what they are if students are interested.

Questioning

  1. Can students identify which body parts are private?
  2. Who are the adults that children could ask if they had a question about private body parts?

Curriculum Information