Body'n'Change

An activity to deal with children's body changes, gender expressions and gender identity, helping them familiarise themselves with self-perception.

This exercise aims at addressing the topic of body transformation/transition and self-perception, along with a lecture/science lesson on the reproductive system and sexuality. It is conceived for late-primary/elementary school students.

The activity is designed for 10-12 year-old / pre-adolescent pupils. Itis divided into 3 main phases

1. Pupils color their self-image - sheet nr.1, that shall be conceived as the “me now” representation”
2. Pupils reconstruct the image of the "adult self", combining the various stripes composing the body (sheet 2-7 to be printed in many copies and cut along the stripes but the teachers), choosing between female and male parts in diverse sizes, also mixing them.

2.bis Later, they will focus on the sexual / gender expressions and will be asked to insert the images representative of the sexual attributes into the circles. Also in this case, they will follow what they feel to be belonging to themselves. 3. The teacher will guide an individual or a group reflection on the resulting body, also introducing or encompassing the topic of gender dysphoria, queer/sex transition.