The internet has a wealth of great information. It can also be an unsafe place for those who are too young to understand the consequences of sharing too much. Your girls can learn the basics of internet safety and earn the Girl Scout Daisy Cybersecurity Basics badge.
Image by Haute Stock and altered by the author in Canva
Step 1 Find Out How Computers Work
Ask the girls if they know the different kinds of computers that exist. Desktops, laptops, iPads, iPhones, and tablets are all computers of different sizes.
If you have a laptop that you can bring to the meeting, then bring it. Point out the different parts, like the monitor, the keyboard, the mouse, the touchpad, the webcam, and the CPU, and see if the girls know their names.
Ask them what computers are used for.
Step 2 Find Out How to Protect Something Valuable
Ask children what a valuable is. People like to keep valuable things safe, and that also includes their private information.
Here is a short video made for kids that explains internet safety.
Next, hand out an "All About Me' printable for the girls to fill out. You can find some good basic ones at Planes and Balloons. Just scroll to the bottom of the blog post to download.
If you want to do something simpler, then give each girl a bag with slips of paper inside. On each piece, write and/or have a picture of different things about them. Example slips can say:
"My name is _______"
"My address is ______"
"My favorite color is _______"
"My favorite food is ________"
"The name of my school is _______"
Make sure the girls have their name in each box and have them cut them out. Place them in a paper bag.
The girls will dump out the strips of paper. Have them each find one you call out. Ask if it is okay to share that information with someone you do not know. If no, it stays on the outside. Then ask if you can share that with a friend or family member or someone else like a teacher. If the answer is yes, it goes inside the bag, as it is private and not for strangers to know.
Step 3 Discover How You Are Connected
Materials
Skein of Yarn
Have the girls sit in a circle. Your co-leader will be on the other side of the room or out the door with the door open.
Give one of the girls a piece of yarn and tell her to share her name and age. Then the yarn gets rolled to a person across from her and she repeats the first girl's name and age. Tell the girls that it is okay to share this information with each other because they are in the same circle of friends.
Repeat until every girl is holding a piece of yarn and has repeated the first girl's name and age.
The last girl stands up and gives the yarn to your co-leader. The co-leader says the girl's name and age and then walks out the door with the yarn.
Have her come back in and explain that when you share information online with people you do not know, you have no control over where it gets sent.
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