D. Healthy Living · Healthy Living

Growing Up: Healthy Body Image and Respecting Differences

D1.5 D3.3 A1.5 A1.1About 40 minutes

Learning goals

I can name factors that affect how my body grows (physical development).
I can name factors that affect how I grow in my feelings and with other people (social-emotional development).
I can name things that help me have a healthy body image.
I can describe visible and invisible differences that make each person unique, and ways to show respect for differences.

Words to know

physical development
How your body grows and changes, like getting taller and stronger.

social-emotional development
How you grow in understanding feelings and getting along with others.

body image
How you think and feel about your body.

visible difference
A difference you can see, like hair, skin colour, height or using glasses or a wheelchair.

invisible difference
A difference you can't see, like what you're good at, how you learn, your beliefs or your family background.

unique
One of a kind. There is no one exactly like you!

respect
Treating people kindly and fairly and valuing who they are.

You are growing in many ways

In Grade 2 you learned the stages of life: infant, child, adolescent, adult and older adult. Right now you are a child, and you're growing in many ways: your body grows (physical development), and you grow in understanding feelings and getting along with others (social-emotional development).

What affects physical development (body)	What affects social-emotional development (feelings and relationships)
Healthy food and water	Caring family and friends who listen and help
Sleep (children your age need lots, about 9 to 11 hours a night)	Practising skills like sharing, taking turns and naming feelings
Active play every day	Feeling that you belong at home, school and in your community
Family traits: some things, like how tall you may grow, are partly in the body you're born with	Experiences, like trying new things, solving problems, and handling hard times
Health care: checkups, the dentist, and staying safe from injury	Your culture and traditions

Many factors help you grow. Everyone grows at their own pace.

Healthy body image

Body image is how you think and feel about your body. A healthy body image means you appreciate your body and take care of it, even if it doesn't look like anyone else's.

Things that help a healthy body image:

Focusing on what your body can do: run, dance, hug, build, play music.
Kind words from yourself and others. No teasing about bodies.
Knowing that every body is different, and all bodies are good bodies.
Remembering that pictures in ads, shows and online are often edited or use filters. Real people don't look like that all the time.

Things that can hurt body image: mean comments, comparing yourself to others, and believing pictures that aren't real.

A healthy body image means focusing on what your body can do. What are three things your body can do that you appreciate?

Visible and invisible differences

Everyone is unique. Some differences you can see and some you can't.

Visible differences 👀	Invisible differences 💭
skin colour, hair, eye colour	skills and talents (like drawing or math)
height, body size and shape	how a person learns best
glasses, hearing aids, a wheelchair	beliefs, culture and values
clothing, like a hijab, turban or kippah	family background and the languages spoken at home
	likes and dislikes; allergies; feelings and mental health

Differences make each person unique.

Like an iceberg, the differences you can see are only a small part of a person. Most of what makes someone unique is invisible.

Ways to show respect for differences

Be curious and kind: ask respectful questions, like "What language do you speak at home?" Don't stare or laugh.
Include everyone in games.
Use people's names the way they say them.
Speak up if someone is teased for being different.
Remember: we are different and the same. Everyone wants to feel safe, liked and that they belong.

Worked example

Let's sort the factors

Sort these into physical or social-emotional development: getting 10 hours of sleep, joining a club and making a new friend, eating breakfast, learning to calm down when angry.

Sleep helps your body grow and repair: physical.
Making friends helps you grow in getting along: social-emotional.
Breakfast gives your body energy: physical.
Calming down is about feelings: social-emotional.

Physical: sleep, breakfast. Social-emotional: new friend, calming down.

Worked example

Let's respond with respect

A new student, Amira, wears a hijab. Another student whispers, "Why does she wear that?" and giggles.

Notice: this is a visible difference. Giggling is not respectful.
A respectful choice: smile, say hi, and invite Amira to play.
If someone is curious, they could ask kindly, "Can you tell me about your hijab?" Amira can choose whether to answer.

Show respect by being kind, including Amira, and asking respectful questions, not giggling.

Hands-on activity

All about me: seen and unseen

You need: paper, markers.

Draw an outline of yourself in the middle of the page.
Outside the outline, write or draw your visible traits, like curly hair, glasses or tall.
Inside the outline, write your invisible traits: your talents, favourite things, languages, family traditions, and what you're proud of.
Add 3 things your body can do that you appreciate.
With your grown-up, talk about one thing you have in common with a friend and one way you are different.

Your turn

Name two factors that help physical development.

Name two factors that help social-emotional development.

What is body image?

Name two visible differences.

Name two invisible differences.

Give one way to show respect for differences.

More practice: warm-up

Does everyone grow at the same speed?

Is a hearing aid a visible or invisible difference?

Is being good at drawing a visible or invisible difference?

What does unique mean?

Are pictures in ads always real?

More practice: on your own

Why might a person feel bad about their body after looking at many edited pictures?

How does sleep help you grow?

Your cousin says, "I hate my freckles." How could you help them have a healthier body image?

A classmate learns in a different way and gets extra help. Why is it unkind to tease them?

Name something you have in common with someone who seems very different from you.

Challenge

Explain how social-emotional development and physical development can affect each other.

Write a short message for a poster called "All Bodies Are Good Bodies".

Why does our class (or community) get better because people have different talents, cultures and ideas?

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which helps physical development?

Which helps social-emotional development?

Which is an invisible difference?

What is a healthy body image?

Which shows respect for differences?

Why can ads and online pictures hurt body image?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: This lesson covers two Grade 3 expectations: identify factors that affect physical development, social-emotional development and the development of a healthy body image (D1.5), and describe how visible differences and invisible differences make each person unique, and identify ways of showing respect for differences in others (D3.3).

About the content: This lesson is part of Ontario's human development and sexual health expectations. It follows the Grade 3 wording and stays simple. It does not teach puberty (that comes in later grades). Differences are described in general terms (appearance, abilities, culture, beliefs, family background, learning, talents). In Ontario, parents may request an exemption from human development and sexual health instruction at school (ask your school about its process). At home, you decide how much to say; short, honest answers work best, and it's fine to say, "Great question. Let's look it up together."

How to help at home:

Praise what bodies do, not how they look. Avoid negative talk about your own or others' bodies.
Talk about edited images and filters when you see ads together.
Celebrate your family's culture and learn about others' through books, food, festivals and friends.
Keep sleep, activity and family meals as routines.

Common difficulties: comparing height or size with classmates; repeating unkind comments heard elsewhere. Gently correct and reinforce "different, not wrong".

This lesson also builds self-awareness and a sense of identity (A1.5) and identifying emotions (A1.1).