There are plenty of ways to learn about e-safety. Many of them are fun and enjoyable, usually focusing on positive actions in response to possible dangers, rather than negative outcomes. We have collected a few here from well known and reputable sources and encourage you to explore them with your child.

In each case, these activities are made even more valuable when a child experiences them with the support and engagement of an adult. Further understanding is gained when discussion about the subject also takes place after the activity has finished.

Think U Know

Think U Know is a resource produced and maintained by CEOP, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre and provides a comprehensive collection of resources for children and parents covering all aspects of online safety.

Think U Know resources are broken down into age appropriate categories for year 5 to 7, 8 to 10 and 11 to 13 with a further section specifically for parents and carers.

Some of the best tips can be found in Hector's World videos, offering meaningful content to young people through animated short stories an regular cast of characters.

Gooseberry Planet

Children love playing games, and Gooseberry Planet is a fun platform game that presents e-safety questions to the player as they progress. It's best played with adult supervision - not because your child will need much help with the gameplay, but for you to ensure that with each question the game presents, you take time to consider what the question is asking and discuss the possible options and the consequences of each. Establishing an open dialog is an essential step in maintaining the safety of young people online and Gooseberry Planet is a great way to facilitate this.

As an accompaniment to the Gooseberry Planet app, there is also an app for parents to track the progress of their child as they progress. More details about Gooseberry Parent can be found in the Parents area of the Gooseberry Planet website. The parent app includes e-safety tips and ideas for starting conversations with your child about e-safety.

Safer Internet

Safer Internet Day is an annual event aimed at raising awareness of the need for everyone to understand how to be safe online. Resources are provided to support schools and parents.

Some specific resources are available for parents and a good starting point is to have a conversation with your child about staying safe online. After this, you might want to try some of the resources aimed specifically at parents and carers of children between the ages of 3 and 11 years, ranging from interactive games and quizzes to educational films. All of these activities are best completed together with your child.

Share Aware

The NSPCC Share Aware campaign is aimed at informing young people about the potential reach and impact of sharing content online, irrespective of the site or application through which this takes place. Using a simple but very effective video, we follow the circulation of a film created by two friends and witness the impact this has upon them, different parts of their family, social circles and beyond.

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