Social Stories for Teaching Health & Hygiene

From a young age, children begin to learn more about their bodies; what to do to stay healthy as well as how to create and maintain a good hygiene routine. If you are looking for resources to reinforce a particular topic or routine, try using a social story template.

A social story should be written from your child’s perspective and outline a certain scenario or situation, reinforcing appropriate behaviors and responses to those situations.

For example, if you’d like to reinforce what your child should do if they have to use the restroom while at school, you can build a social story from their perspective explaining that when they feel like they need to use the toilet, they should ask an adult to use the restroom.

You may choose to incorporate your child’s favorite characters or interests into the social story or the names of their peers to make it more personal. Be sure to end the story with the positive outcome that occurs from following the appropriate behaviors!

Check out the prepared social story templates on health and hygiene topics or create your own today!

The special education resources on this page were authored by Watson Institute’s special education consultants and faculty.

These behavior stories may benefit your students.  They can be downloaded, saved and edited to suit your needs.  The * notation indicates the story is  formatted in a Power Point presentation and the ** notation indicates a Power Point with sound narration.  Each Power Point has animation included on each slide.  Some occur automatically – some occur on a “click”.  Feel free to send comments or questions to [email protected].

Going to the Orthodontist

What Goes in Your Mouth

What to Do When I Get Hurt

Fact Sheet: Germs and Your Health

Fact Sheet: Germs and Your Health**

All Different Kinds of Underwear

A Story About Me – Using the Toilet

I Need to Remember

I Don’t Feel Good*

How to Talk to My Friends

How to Stop My Accidents

Batman Goes Potty

Private Areas

Thomas the Tank Uses the Bathroom

If you have questions or concerns about the Watson Institute’s use of this information, please contact us.