Anti-Bullying Week runs from November 18 to November 22. The week aims to encourage children and young people to think about and act on creating a future without bullying, with a particular focus on cyber bullying and staying safe online.
As Anti-Bullying Week approaches, there are lots of activities that you can do with your children to help them understand that bullying isn't ok and that no-one deserves to be bullied.
Here, our partner BeatBullying shows us how to make a Bully-Proof Shield at home. The aim of the fun craft is to help teach - or remind - children that bullying is not acceptable and why we all need to band together to stop it.
You will need:
Large pieces of paper
Coloured pens and pencils
Other decorations (e.g. glitter, stickers, paint etc.)
Glue
Somewhere to display your Bully-Proof shields with pride
What to do:
1. Ask your children to decide on five values they are going to put onto their Bully-Proof Shield.
2. Decide the best way they can make the shield stand out creatively. This could be using colour, stickers, glitter, bold borders (or a 3D creation if you're feeling brave!) etc.
3.Design/colour the shield and make sure the five values are clearly written on it in bold.
Here are some suggested values if they need help:
Patience
Courage
Strength (both physical and mental)
Empathy
Acceptance
Sticking together
Display the shields in your home. They will remind your children of the positive values that are needed to prevent bullying from happening, and will help them to spread the message that bullying is unacceptable.
Below is an example of a young child's shield...