My Body -- Preschool & Kindergarten
My Body
Tune: Where is Thumbkin
This is my body.
This is my body.
It's the only one I've got.
It's the only one I've got.
I'm going to take good care of it.
I'm going to take good care of it.
Yes I am. Yes I am.
Touch Your Nose
Touch your nose,
Touch your chin;
That's the way this game begins.
Touch you eyes,
Touch your knees;
Now pretend you're going to sneeze.
Touch your hair,
Touch one ear;
Touch your two red lips right here,
Touch your elbows
Where they bend;
That's the way this touch game ends.
It's Me Again!
Here are my ears
Here are my ears.
Here is my nose.
Here are my fingers.
Here are my toes.
Here are my eyes,
Both open wide.
Here is my mouth
With white teeth inside.
Here is my tongue
That helps me speak.
Here is my chin,
And here are my cheeks.
Here are my hands
That help my play.
Here are my feet
For walking today.
Video
Art
Handy Book
On a piece of folded constuction paper trace a child's hand. Cut out the hand, leaving the fold uncut. You end up with a hand-shaped booklet that will open up.
Place small amounts of paint in shallow containers. Let the children decorate their hand books by doting their thumb or fingers with paint making thumb prints or finger prints. Print each child's name on the outside of the book.
Body Tracing
Have each child lie on a large piece of paper. Trace the child's body and let each child decorate his/her tracing.
Literacy
Body Book
Need: magazines and standard writing paper
Direct the children to find and cut out pictures of a specific body part from magazines. Select a different body part each day. Glue pictures to a sheet of paper, using one page for eyes, one page for mouths, one page for hands, and so on. Let the children write or dictate captions for the pages. Conclude the book with a few pages of whole bodies.
Learning Centers
Sensory Table
Add baby shampoo to the sensory table.
Health Club
Mats, fake weights (can be made from large tinker toys), and music to represent a health club can be placed in the dramatic play area.
Group
Counting Body Parts
Have the children find different parts of their body. As a group, count how many of each part you have. For example, a child might say "fingernails". All of the group will find their fingernails and count them.
Body Part Riddles
Say riddles to the children such as, "I'm thinking of the body part that you put your socks and shoes over. What is it?" or "It's on your face. You use it to eat and talk with. What is it?
Watch Carefully
Have a child come to the front of the circle. Have him/her stand still. Then whisper a body part to him/her. All of the children should watch carefully. S/he briefly moves that part and then stands quietly again. The children call out which body part s/he moved.
Cooking
Fruit Tree Salad
Need: lettuce, pineapple slices, bananas, fruit cocktail.
On a plate place a lettuce leaf. On the center of the lettuce, place a pineapple slice. In the hole of the pineapple, place half a peeled banana. Drain 1 small can of fruit cocktail. Spoon the fruit over the banana.
Thumb Print Cookings
Need: 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2/3 cup oil, 4-5 Tablespoons water
Put all of the ingredients into a bowl. Mix with your hands or a fork. Roll the dough into small balls. Have children press their thumbs into the center of each ball. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 325 degrees F for 10 minutes. Let cool and then fill with jam or peanut butter.
Eyes
My Eyes
My eyes are the same as....
Fold construction paper into 4 sections (horizontal fold). On the first section write "My (pic of eyes) are the same color as....
Have children look in a mirror and tell what color their eyes are. Then on the first section of the page the child can draw his/her eyes and color them.
The next 3 fold sections the child draws a picture of something that is the same color as his/her eyes. The adult labels each picture with what the child says it is. (ex: brown eyes. pic of a tree, a cat,... blue eyes: a picture of the sky, a lake,...)
My Eye
Posterboard cut in a eye shape. Give children mirrors to look at their eyes. Child draws a circle in the middle of the eye pattern. Color the center of the circle a black circle. Then color the large circle the color of your eyes.
Give child a choice of brown or black construction paper to cut strips to paste onto the top and bottom of the eye pattern for eye lashes.
Eyes
Foot Book
Paint the childrens' feet (red foot, blue foot...) and create your own Foot Book.
Foot Puppet
Have children stand on a piece of construction paper. Trace around the child's foot and then cut out the shape. Staple a tongue depressor or craft stick to the heel of the foot for a handle. Let the children draw faces onto their foot puppets.
Sand Table
Add shoes to the sand table. Children can make prints in the sand wearing the shoes on their hands.
Games
Use Your Toes
Need: soft balls (lots of balls-soft balls can be made from socks), clothes basket
In the middle of a circle place small soft items on the floor. Place a clothes basket in the center of the circle. Have children remove their shoes and socks. While seated the children move and pick up the items with their feet and place them in the basket.
Left and Right
Need: stickers
Place a sticker on the toe of each child's right shoe. Discuss "left" and "right". Play a movement game of follow the directions--stand on right foot, kick you left foot up high, touch left elbow...start with movements using the feet then movements using the arms.
