Social Story Size

A first-person social story explaining, one short page at a time, why a growing girl starts wearing a bra, how a first bra is chosen and measured in a shop, and who to tell when it stops fitting.

An educational teaching resource from SEN Resource Source entitled I Need to Wear a Bra Social Story downloadable at Teach Simple.

Year groups: Not year specific
File type: PDF
Preparation: Print ready

Updated Sep 24, 2021

Subject: Life Skills, Special Resources
Topic: Bra, Social Story
Preparation: Print ready

From the author

About this resource

I Need to Wear a Bra Social Story

The I Need to Wear a Bra Social Story is a pivotal teaching resource designed specifically for aiding teenage girls as they encounter fresh challenges in their personal growth journey. This enlightening tool is perfect for educators and homeschoolers, offering adept guidance on managing various social situations that can often be difficult to handle.

Adopting a kind, reassuring tone, this social story acts as an informative guide for children who are attempting to understand intricate social skills or cues. It's especially helpful for children on the autistic spectrum who might find certain circumstances harder to comprehend.

This 18-page PDF, with its emphasis on breaking down and simplifying possibly overwhelming concepts and situations, proves beneficial particularly for teens entering womanhood and starting to wear bras. The story applies an impressively gentle technique towards making young girls at ease in what might be seen otherwise as an anxious transition stage.

Implementation & usage

These pages can be incorporated into group lessons or handed out as homework assignments— bringing valuable life skills from school all the way home!
The story includes carefully selected colourful images that make learning visually appealing.
To maximize their effectiveness, these pages can be used repeatedly - displaying them in books or even laminating before binding.

Purchase & Convenience

This beautiful guide falls under 'Special Resources' among subjects – due its multitude of uses – especially handy for educators handling 'Life Skills' sub-subjects. The added appeal of available PDF format makes it incredibly user-friendly!

Key Takeaway: Lets lend stable support during growing up times because every child deserves comforting clarity in the midst of chaotic changes! The I Need to Wear a Bra Social Story is a tastefully tactful approach to help children confront complexities, one story at a time.

What's included

A title page reading "I Need to Wear a Bra"
Seventeen illustrated story pages, each carrying one or two short first-person sentences
Opening pages establishing the change: "I am growing up and getting bigger" and "As I grow older my body will change. I will still be me but my body will start to look different."
Pages giving two reasons for wearing a bra — it holds the breasts up and makes the wearer more comfortable, and it covers a private part of the body
A shopping sequence: going to a store to choose one with a trusted adult, and a lady who works in the shop measuring for the right size
Reassurance pages saying it may feel strange at first, that the bra is always worn underneath clothes where other people will not see it, and that it is not worn in bed
Two action pages: telling a grown up if the bra feels too small so a new one can be got, and being able to ask a grown up any questions
A closing page reading "My friends and family love me."

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Recognise growing and breast development as an expected part of growing up rather than a change to worry about
Give the two reasons the story offers for wearing a bra: support and comfort, and covering a private part of the body
Describe what happens on a first bra-buying trip — a trusted adult comes along and a shop assistant measures for size
Say what to do when a bra feels too small: tell a grown up so a new one can be got
Identify a grown up who can be asked questions about growing up

Teaching tips

Each page holds a single idea in one or two sentences, so the story can be read over several short sittings rather than end to end
The shopping sequence is the part most worth rehearsing — who comes along, what the assistant does, why measuring happens — before any real trip is planned
Everything is written in the reader's own voice, from "I will still be me" to "I can ask a grown up", so the story works as a personal script the young person keeps and rereads
Two pages give instructions rather than descriptions: say when a bra feels too small, and ask questions of a grown up. Come back to those after the first read so they land as things to do
The wording follows British conventions — "pyjamas", "a lady who works in the shop" — which is worth a brief word where American spelling is the classroom norm

Skills covered

Understanding body change — the story names growing, breasts growing and looking different while remaining the same person, all in the reader's own voice.
Understanding privacy — one page states that a bra covers breasts because they are a private part of the body, and another that the bra is always underneath clothes.
Preparing for an unfamiliar situation — the shop pages set out who comes along, what a shop assistant does and why measuring happens, before the visit takes place.
Self-advocacy — the reader is told to say when a bra feels too small and that questions can be asked of a grown up at any point.
Managing a new sensation — one page acknowledges that wearing a bra may feel strange at first and that the feeling passes.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Which regional conventions does the wording follow?

British ones. Bedtime is described as putting on "pyjamas" rather than pajamas, and the fitting is carried out by "a lady who works in the shop" rather than a store associate.

What does the story say about being measured?

That a lady who works in the shop will need to measure the reader to see what size bra is needed. A trusted adult comes along to the store for that visit, and the page before it says the reader will go to a store to choose one.

What does the story tell the reader to do when a bra stops fitting?

It gives a direct instruction: if the bra feels like it is too small, the reader must tell a grown up so that a new bra can be got. The page after that adds that a grown up can be asked any questions at all.