Back in class

Your first week

Three short activities, written for Reception (ages 4–5), with a line for younger and older children. None of them needs a Beebot or an iPad, and none puts children in front of AI. Here technology means tools and devices people made, including low-tech tools. Electronics are one subset; discuss overlapping categories and welcome “not sure”.

1

Is it technology?

15 minCarpet or a group of 4–6

You need: three hoops or trays with picture labels (technology · not technology · not sure), and 8–10 everyday objects: a torch, a wooden toy phone, a remote, a picture book, a pencil, a battery toy, a walkie-talkie, a class iPad switched off.

Hold up one object. “Is it technology? How do you know?”
A child places it. Accept pointing and placing as a full answer.
Anything argued about goes in not sure. That basket is the lesson.
End by giving one device a home in the room, with a picture label.

No devices? Use photos or the sticker sheet in the table kit instead of objects.

Younger: three objects, two hoops, and an adult models first. Older: children add “Does it listen? Does it watch?” tags.

2

The mystery bag

5–10 minA group of 4–6

You need: an opaque bag and two or three large, familiar, safe objects.

Put one object in the bag. Invite a guess from its shape or a clue. Passing is welcome.
Ask “What could help us find out?” Reaching, looking or asking an adult all count.
Open the bag together and name what you can see: “I thought it was a cup. It’s a spoon. We found out together.”
Let a child choose the next object.

Why it matters: changing your mind when you find out more is the habit children will need with machines that guess.

Younger: one object and a shared reveal. Older: two clues that point different ways; children choose which clue to ask for.

3

Three-photo talk-back

10 min per groupPairs or 3–4 children

You need: three printed photos of a play sequence: a block tower, a painting, a Beebot route. Hands and materials, not faces.

Children put the photos in order: first, then, last.
Ask “What were you doing here? What happened next?” Then wait.
Write their words exactly, in any language.
Ask “Who would you like to show?” and “Is this picture okay to share?”

No iPad? Children draw the three moments, or use the photo cards in the table kit.

Younger: one photo and one question. Older: children choose and take the photos themselves, following your consent rules.

Before you take photosSafeguards, data and consent.

What to listen forHow you’d know it’s working.

Tell familiesThe note and six tips, in English and Chinese.

Downloads

Print, plan, share

Present

Workshop slides

The revised 28-slide ACAMIS ECE 2026 presentation, including the updated Dilon wording and workshop QR code.

Slides (PowerPoint, 12 MB)

Print

Table activity kit

Run sheet, door chart, draw-your-space sheet and stickers, hunt-to-plan card, Beebot challenge, Rosie’s Walk tiles, photo talk-back, playhouse mat, character card, audit and plan templates, seed cards, feedback cards, family note and guide.

Kit (PDF)

Templates

Audit and plan

The blank versions of the two PDFs this site fills in for you. Print them for tables that prefer paper.

Audit Plan

Read

Earlier DCB overview

Earlier DCB digital-safety overview: the historical examples name Respectful Rui. The current Lesson 1 shown here features Responsible Ryan; the newer AI thread is explained on the Dilon page.

Earlier overview + context (PDF)

Download the complete workshop companion (ZIP, 25 MB). Unzip it and open index.html; use a local web server for reliable saving and exports. Includes the slides and printable resources.

Printing tips

Print in colour. The door chart, draw-your-space sheet and playhouse mat look best on A3.
Print the Rosie’s Walk tiles at actual size (100%) so each tile matches one Beebot step.
No children’s faces or names on any card or photo.

Companion workshop

E-Safety: Zero to Hero

The whole-school route from borrowed lessons to an owned system, shared at the ACAMIS Technology Conference 2026. Early Years is stage one of that journey. Open E-Safety: Zero to Hero

For facilitators

The 45-minute run sheet

Twelve stops. The minimum outcome is one selected idea, one priority and one first step. Detailed character drafting, the full plan and peer feedback can continue afterwards. Pre-set the Beebot materials and keep a visible timer for stops 3, 9 and 11.

Min	Stop	You do and say	They do	Materials
0–2	1 · Say hello	Dilon the plush greets at the door. “How do you feel about AI in early childhood today?”	Wave to Dilon; dot on the chart; tap a face on the site.	Plush, door chart, dots
2–3	2 · Join the site	QR on screen. “Keep the tab open: your notes, drawing, audit and plan all download as PDFs.”	Open the site; find My notes.	QR slide
3–8	3 · Tech hunt	“Draw a space you know: home, classroom, a friend’s house. What technology lives there?”	Draw on the site or the paper sheet; add stickers.	Drawing sheet, stickers, pens
8–11	4 · Hunt → tech plan	Five questions: where it lives, who uses it, does it listen or watch, what children and families need to know.	Share one find and one plan line.	Hunt-to-plan card
11–15	5 · The latest episode	Values family → Lesson 1 in Nest and Reception → 58-second clip → carpet quotes → plush.	Watch; listen.	Slides, video, plush
15–18	6 · Nest to Year 2	The four bands and the AI thread in each.	Spot their own age group.	Slides
18–20	7 · Capture & share	Children document with iPads; photos go offline; children share with families.	Photo talk-back in pairs, if time.	Photo cards
20–24	8 · Beebots & play	From screen to Beebot. Rosie’s Walk challenge.	Program, film, debug.	Beebot, tiles, arrow cards
24–31	9 · The playhouse	“Choose your learners. Walk the rooms. Pick moments that fit where they are and what they can do.”	Playhouse on the site or the mat.	Playhouse mat
31–35	10 · Make Dilon yours	Seven steps; the DCB values card.	Draft a character card.	Character card
35–42	11 · Check & build	Audit six areas → build a plan → swap with the next table for two paw-prints.	Audit and plan; download the PDFs.	Audit and plan templates, sticky notes
42–45	12 · Families	Questions to try at home, guidance, family session. Move your dot.	Copy the family note; move the dot.	Family note, door chart

Short on time?

Shorten stops 7 and 8 to the stories. Keep the playhouse, the audit and the plan: they are the takeaway.

A Beebot fails?

One person plays the robot; the others give arrow-card instructions.

No devices at a table?

Everything has a paper version in the kit: drawing sheet, playhouse mat, character card and both templates.

For your classroom

Eight unplugged invitations

Each uses everyday materials and keeps a real choice with children. Age bands are entry points, not milestones.

Move

Ages

Hesitations welcome

Your hesitation is a professional strength.

Early childhood educators protect play, relationships and childhood. Those instincts belong in this work, not outside it.

“I’m not a tech person. Can I really do this?”

Yes. Every activity uses objects, stories, puppets and conversation. If you can run a tech hunt with a tray of toys, you can run this. Expertise in children matters far more here than expertise in technology.

Skene et al. (2022) · Bonawitz et al. (2011)

“Isn’t this just pushing screens into the early years?”

No. The screen moments here are short and adult-led, and the loop always ends offline: in children’s hands, in printed photos, in routines. Children already meet technology at home, in shops and in toys, and they deserve adults who help them make sense of it. Decisions about any child-facing tool stay with adults and school review.

NAEYC & Fred Rogers Center (2012) · UNICEF (2025)

“Aren’t iPad photos just more screen time?”

The device is used for a moment, by children, to capture their own learning. The thinking happens later, with printed photos and people. Follow your school’s media consent, keep faces out of anything that leaves the room, and let children choose what’s printed.

Adapted from Dr Nair Cordoso’s Beyond the Screen workshop · Clark & Moss (2001) · NAEYC (2020)

“Could a friendly character reinforce the anthropomorphism we’re questioning?”

It could, which is why the guardrails matter. Adults openly frame Dilon as pretend; he cannot independently listen, generate replies or remember children; stories or a plush may go home; and we watch for over-attachment deliberately through check-ins, observations and walk-bys. A pretend character can be a safe place to practise the questions children will need for systems that do answer back.

Calvert et al. (2020) · Flanagan, Wong & Kushnir (2023) · Woolley & Ghossainy (2013) · Stower, Kappas & Sommer (2024)

“Our families feel strongly about technology, in both directions.”

Start with mirrors, not messages. Ask families what devices and voices are part of home life, share one simple question to try together, and invite home languages. You’re not asking families to adopt technology; you’re inviting them into children’s questions.

NAEYC (2019) · NAEYC (2020)

“Is this just good early childhood practice with a tech label?”

Much of it is good early childhood practice. The extra lens makes machine claims, incomplete inputs, human choices and human responsibility explicit where relevant. For the youngest children, foundational play may be the whole activity; there’s no need to add AI vocabulary.

NAEYC (2020) · Ng et al. (2021)

“What evidence shows these activities lead to later AI literacy?”

The sources here don’t establish that causal link. They support component ideas and bounded examples of early AI learning. The six stops, the strands and the invitations are proposals for thoughtful practice, not validated interventions.

Skene et al. (2022) · Williams et al. (2019) · Su, Ng & Chu (2023)

“Should children use generative AI during these activities?”

No, and nothing here requires it. Any separate proposal for child-facing technology needs an educational purpose, appropriate access, school review and attention to what it displaces.

NAEYC & Fred Rogers Center (2012) · UNICEF (2025)

“Could this teach children to distrust everyone?”

The aim is calibrated trust: asking what a source could know, checking where useful, and reaching for a grown-up. Avoid tricks, repeated deception or catching children out. Reliable relationships stay at the centre.

Koenig & Harris (2005) · NAEYC (2020)

“What about different cultures, languages and additional needs?”

The evidence base is uneven and several studies have narrow samples. Plan with local educators and families. Use familiar materials, home languages, tactile choices, gesture or AAC; allow observation and refusal; and don’t infer ability from English verbal explanations.

NAEYC (2019) · Gangopadhyay & Peters (2025)