Kisses Social Story

Discuss kissing and personal space with an illustrated social story. Short first-person pages explore how others may feel about touch and offer alternatives for greeting friends.
Pages
19
File type
PDF
Preparation
Print ready

Updated Sep 27, 2026

Subject
Social Skills, Special Resources
Topic
Social Story, Autism
Preparation
Print ready

From the author

About this resource

The Kisses Social Story uses a reassuring tone and visual supports to teach children about appropriate kissing behaviour. Some children have difficulty understanding when and where kissing is allowed. This story explains that kisses can make people feel happy and loved. However, not everyone likes kisses. The story guides children to ask first before kissing someone and to respect if the answer is no. The narrative and images provide perspective taking around personal space and consent.

This story delivers social skills instruction in a manner autistic and neurodiverse learners can comprehend. Social stories clearly outline situational expectations and common responses to reduce anxiety around social confusion.

Teachers, counsellors, and parents can read this story to prepare children for real-world encounters. It builds awareness of personal boundaries and helps prevent inappropriate actions. The story first defines kissing and models asking for consent. Then it demonstrates calm acceptance if kissing is declined. This practical resource turns an abstract social concept into concrete steps children can follow. Social stories foster self-regulation, communication skills, and thoughtful behaviour.

The Kisses Social Story proactively teaches children to navigate intimate interactions with empathy and respect.

These books should be used over and over to reinforce the point so I would suggest either putting the pages into a display book or laminating and binding them.

Clipart images courtesy of Kari Bolt.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Recognize that people may have different preferences about touch

  • Identify personal space as a boundary to respect

  • Discuss ways to greet friends

Teaching tips

  • Follow the tips page: read it through twice at first, then keep returning to it, since the story is written to be repeated rather than read once

  • Pick the spelling edition before printing — mom and mommy in one, mum and mummy in the other — because those words appear in the two most personal pages of the story

  • Add asking permission and accepting no for every kind of touch, including with family. Offer a wave or another no-touch greeting, and make clear that a child does not have to give kisses or hold hands.

Skills covered

  • Recognizing personal space

  • Considering others’ preferences

  • Greeting choices

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Resource details

Concepts & topics

Core concepts

  • Social story

  • Personal space

  • Appropriate touch

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