Swoosh, Glide, and Rule Number 5
About this resource
This picture book helps educators, parents, and carers to discuss online safety habits and behaviours with children.
Age range for this resource
For parents, carers, and educators of children aged 12 months to 8 years.
Goal of this resource
To foster children’s sense of wellbeing and online safety.
To provide children with strategies, habits, and behaviours for maintaining their own safety when using online environments.
To support children to identify and respond to potential online safety risks, such as encountering distressing online content.
How might educators use this resource?
Provide this picture book as a shared reading option for children in your classroom. Read this book with children in small groups. Invite children’s contributions to the story: Do you use a tablet at home? What do you use a tablet for? Explore these related eSafety resources with children: My Family Rules song and Story puzzles with Swoosh and Glide.
How might families use this resource?
Share links to the video version of this book with friends and family. Discuss what rules or strategies you have in common with other adults for when children are using internet-connected devices. Explore these related eSafety resources with children: My Family Rules song and Story puzzles with Swoosh and Glide.
How might organisations use this resource?
Share links to the e-book version of this picture book with families through your usual communication channels. Highlight how learning about online safety is a requirement of Belonging, Being, and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia V2.0 (Australian Government Department of Education, 2022) and Australian Curriculum V9.0 (Australian Curriculum, Assessment, and Reporting Authority, 2024).
What learning might we see?
Parents, carers, and educators becoming familiar with important online safety issues to discuss with children.
Children recognising the need for online safety and understanding how to safely use internet-connected devices.
Children describing some online safety rules for using internet-connected devices at home.
Practice
Reading
Children and adults engage in shared reading of books and e-books about the internet and online safety.
Area
Citizenship
Citizenship in digital contexts recognises that young children are active participants in their communities now and into the future. As citizens, young children respect their own rights and those of other people, and develop an appreciation for cultural, racial, gender, and religious diversity. Digital rights, digital privacy, online safety, and cyber-safety education provide a foundation for early citizenship in digital contexts.
Connection to relevant standards
Belonging, Being, and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia V2.0 (Australian Government Department of Education, 2022)
Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity
Children develop their emerging autonomy, inter-dependence, resilience, and agency (e.g., Educators provide children with strategies to make informed choices about their actions, interactions, and behaviours).
Children develop knowledgeable, confident self-identities and a positive sense of self-worth (e.g., Educators support children to identify and assess risks in play and learning and to cope with the unexpected).
Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy, and respect (e.g., Children recognise safe and unsafe situations; Children identify trusted adults and friends; Educators support children to learn about and recognise safe and unsafe situations).
Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world
Children develop a sense of connectedness to groups and communities and an understanding of their reciprocal rights and responsibilities as active and informed citizens (e.g., Educators provide opportunities for children to investigate ideas, complex concepts, and ethical issues that are relevant to their lives and their local communities).
Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
Children become strong in their social, emotional, and mental wellbeing (e.g., Educators discuss and model appropriate use of digital technologies and discuss how to keep children safe online with children and families; Educators update their own learning of digital and cyber safety for children).
Children are aware of and develop strategies to support their own mental and physical health and personal safety (e.g., Educators learn about e-safety for children and embed and model safe digital practices).
Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners
Children develop a growth mindset and learning dispositions such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination, and reflexivity (e.g., Children are curious and enthusiastic participants in their learning; Children share their ideas with others and ask questions of adults; Educators respond to children’s displays of learning dispositions by commenting on them and providing encouragement and additional ideas).
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators
Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts (e.g., Children view and listen to printed, visual, and multimedia texts and respond with relevant gestures, actions, comments, and/or questions).
Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media (e.g., Children view, listen and respond to simple printed, visual, and multimedia texts or music and express how it makes them feel).
Children use digital technologies and media to access information, investigate ideas, and represent their thinking (e.g., Children learn how to tell or communicate to a trusted adult about things that upset them, make them uncomfortable, or sad; Educators teach children critical reflection skills and encourage them to evaluate the quality and trustworthiness of information sources; Educators listen carefully and take seriously when children talk about things that bother them).
National Quality Standard (Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, 2019)
Quality Area 1: Educational program and practice (e.g., Each child’s current knowledge, strengths, ideas, culture, abilities, and interests are the foundation of the program; Educators are deliberate, purposeful, and thoughtful in their decisions and actions; Educators respond to children’s ideas and play and extend children’s learning through open-ended questions, interactions, and feedback; Each child’s agency is promoted, enabling them to make choices and decisions that influence events and their world).
Quality Area 2: Children’s health and safety (e.g., Each child’s wellbeing and comfort is provided for, including appropriate opportunities to meet each child’s need for sleep, rest, and relaxation; At all times, reasonable precautions and adequate supervision ensure children are protected from harm and hazard).
Quality Area 3: Physical Environment (e.g., Resources, materials, and equipment allow for multiple uses, are sufficient in number, and enable every child to engage in play-based learning).
Quality Area 5: Relationships with children (e.g., Responsive and meaningful interactions build trusting relationships which engage and support each child to feel secure, confident, and included; The dignity and rights of every child are maintained; Children are supported to collaborate, learn from, and help each other).
National Principles for Child Safe Organisations (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2018)
Principle 1: Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance, and culture.
Principle 2: Children and young people are informed about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them, and are taken seriously.
Principle 5: People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.
Principle 7: Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.
Principle 8: Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.
Explore More
If these ideas are new to you, explore these related resources:
eSafety Early Years Program for Educators
These articles and videos provide information, activities, and advice to early childhood educators and families about young children using technology and online safety.
eSafety Early Years Parent Resources
These articles and videos explore how parents and carers can support young children to have safe and enjoyable experiences online.
For more ideas, explore these related resources:
Storytelling for a connected childhood
This article invites parents, carers, and educators to use stories to engage children and build their understanding about online safety.
This picture book supports parents, carers, and educators to discuss issues with children around online safety.
If you would like to read some research, explore this related resource:
Edwards, S. (2021). Cyber-safety and COVID-19 in the early years: A research agenda. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 19(3), 396–410. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X211014908
Quayyum, F., Cruzes, D. S., & Jaccheri, L. (2021). Cybersecurity awareness for children: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 30, Article 100343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2021.100343