Teaching Young People about Vaccines

Reliable resources for instructing children and teens on how vaccines work

To help teachers and parents educate children and adolescents on vaccines and the immune system, we suggest the credible resources described below for students in-home or classroom settings. The content below is divided into four sections:

A. For parents and caregivers of daycare and pre-school children
B. For elementary school-age children
C. For middle-school-age children
D. For high school students

A. For parents and caregivers of daycare and pre-school children:

Vaccinate Your Family collaborated with Young Minds Inspired to create a lesson plan to educate parents and child caregivers about the key role they play in protecting their children against vaccine-preventable diseases. The simple curriculum includes a teaching kit, color poster, parent and grandparent letters, vaccine information resources, and take-home activities for young children to help them learn how to stay healthy through handwashing and vaccination.

B. For elementary school-age children:

• CHOP’s The Vaccine Makers Project: Includes elementary lesson plans (revised 2018), videos, and 3-dimensional animations. Aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS), this content describes how the immune system works and how vaccines work to prevent disease. Activities and resources introduce the scientific method and equip students to understand science-based topics central to our lives.
• CHOP’s Vaccine Resources for Kids and Teens gateway page (revised 2017) includes:
  • My Vaccine Activity Book (PDF, 5 MB): A 16-page booklet that presents the science of vaccines with fun images to color and activities to complete; available in English and Spanish
  • Vax Pack Hero: A program that features a web-based video game, physical trading cards, and an educational website
• Baylor University offers Vaccines for Children and Adolescents: Lessons and Activities to help parents and teachers start these conversations. For young children, they suggest lessons for ages 3 through 6 and for 7 through 10 years. Activities for elementary students include the stages of vaccine development (The Amazing Vaccine Race), understanding risk, and pretend play at a vaccination clinic.
• BrainPOP: Vaccines (requires paid subscription): This BrainPOP video (4:43 min) discusses vaccines and how they work. Viewers will learn how vaccines interact with the body’s immune system. The interactive Vaccines web page includes quizzes, extra reading, worksheets, and games to enable learning. 

For shorter activities, the following videos share important lessons about vaccines, how they work, and important vaccine champions.

• Peekaboo Kidz: How Vaccines Work (6:50 min.; 4/24/20)
• SciShow Kids: Why Do We Get Vaccines? (3:30 min.; 11/14/17)
• TED-Ed Talk: How Do Vaccines Work? (4:35 min.; 1/12/15)
• Voices for Vaccines: Thomas Jefferson to Edward Jenner (1:49 min.; 7/3/18)

C. For middle-school-age children:

• CHOP’s The Vaccine Makers Project: Includes middle school lesson plans (revised 2018), videos, and 3-dimensional animations. Aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS), this content describes how the immune system works and how vaccines work to prevent disease. The middle school lessons also show how scientific understanding evolves over time as scientists make new discoveries. Resources include a teacher’s plan, student worksheets, glossaries, games, and additional resources. Activities and resources introduce the scientific method and equip students to understand science-based topics central to our lives.
• Baylor University offers Vaccines for Children and Adolescents: Lessons and Activities to help parents and teachers start conversations. They suggest lessons for ages 11 through 13. Activities for middle-school students include the stages of vaccine development (The Amazing Vaccine Race), understanding risk, and media literacy.

For shorter activities, the following videos share important lessons about vaccines, how they work, and important vaccine champions.

• CDC: How Does Flu Make You Sick? (57 min.; 11/4/19)
• Kurzgesagt—In a Nutshell: The Side Effects of Vaccines–How High Is the Risk? (10:55 min.; 5/12/19)
• TED-Ed Talk: How Do Vaccines Work? (4:35 min.; 1/12/15)

D. For high school students:

• History of Vaccines: Historyofvaccines.org offers standards-based resources for use in biology and health courses. The Activities tab leads to a set of nine short slideshows on the Scientific Method, Koch’s Postulates, How Vaccines Are Made, How Vaccines Work, Understanding Risk, and other topics. From the Activities tab, clicking on “Family Facts” or “Educator Resources” leads to more resources and suggestions for educators at home and school.
• CHOP’s The Vaccine Makers Project: Includes high school lesson plans revised 2020), videos, and 3-dimensional animations. Aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS), this content describes the parts of the immune system and how the immune system works to fight off disease, along with how vaccines work, their history, development, and safety. High school students are able to explore lessons on biomedical and animal research, as well as navigate through a case study on the spread of disease. Resources include a teacher’s plan, student worksheets, glossaries, games, and additional resources. Activities and resources introduce the scientific method and equip students to understand science-based topics central to our lives.
• The Influenzer Initiative offers VaxHunt: The Quest to Prevent the Next Pandemic. This online game features trivia and puzzle challenges where players can explore the threat and history of influenza pandemics, why we need a universal influenza vaccine, the challenges of developing next-generation influenza vaccines, and the innovative approaches that may unearth the universal influenza vaccine mystery and deliver on its potential. VaxHunt helps strengthen STEM learning skills. The game can be integrated into classrooms or used at home.
• Baylor University offers Vaccines for Children and Adolescents: Lessons and Activities to help parents and teachers start conversations. For high schoolers, they suggest lessons and activities such as the stages of vaccine development (The Amazing Vaccine Race), understanding risk, media literacy, and ethics and the Tuskegee study.

For shorter activities, the following videos share important lessons about vaccines, how they work, and important vaccine champions.

• Science News for Students: Explainer: What Is a Vaccine? (7/18/17)
• Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell:
  • The Side Effects of Vaccines—How High Is the Risk? (10:55 min.; 5/12/19)
  • The Coronavirus Explained and What You Should Do (8:34 min.; 3/19/20)
  • Measles Explained—Vaccinate or Not? (5:33 min.; 2/24/15)
• Science Journal for Kids and Teens: Five Scientific Articles about Vaccination for Middle and High School Students 

For discussions of information versus misinformation on the Internet, consider the Vaxopedia website. 

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