Space Protectors vs. Space Invaders

The idea of teaching kids the social skill of personal space through space protectors and space invaders is nothing new – but I’m going to share the worksheet I used and how I did this with my group in case anyone is looking for additional inspiration.

I co-ran a social skills group with our SLP for students with ASD, ADHD, and ODD. One of our 30 minute sessions was on personal space. If I would have had more time, I would have begun by reading Personal Space Camp. Instead, we first talked about the concept of “space bubbles” (appropriate physical boundaries) for different groups of people. I drew out concentric circles on chart paper and the boys wrote examples of people and settings on post-its that they would keep at the various distances away from.

Next, we discussed what space protectors and space invaders would do given what they knew about appropriate space bubbles:

We ended with the boys applying what they had learned by writing and drawing about a space protector:

Here is what the worksheet looks like.