I have been wanting to do this activity for awhile since Little Tiger started asking about parts of her body and how they work. By the end of this activity I was impressed at how much she understood and I’m excited about all the new questions she has developed. This was a great introductory activity to human anatomy and even feels a bit fitting for the season as Halloween approaches and skeleton decorations appear.
Find all our Letter of the Week A-Z Series here.
B is for Body
A simple activity to introduce the internal parts of the body to preschoolers.
Objectives: Science, Human anatomy, Self awareness
Suggested Books: Parts (Affiliatie Link) and Even More Parts by Tedd Arnold
and Even More Parts by Tedd Arnold |
| Two super silly books about parts of our body and the crazy things that seem to happen. |
Suggested Book: Ten Tiny Toes (Affiliatie link)
by Caroline Jayne Church
 |
| A cute book (great for toddlers) to point, wave, and wiggle while learning the parts of their body. |
Inside Your Outside: All About the Human Body (Affiliate Link)
Body Magnet Set (Affiliate Link)
Suggested Song: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
Age Group: Preschool
Supplies:
Marker
Large piece of paper
Diagram of human body-here is a great preschool level body diagram I found by HealthFavo.com
Things found around your house to represent parts of the body. We used the following:
- Foam heart-heart
- Bowl-stomach
- Rubber bands-brain
- Lids-eyes
- String-intestines
- Plastic bag-lungs
- Straws-arteries/veins
- Clay-bones (find our clay recipe here: A is for Art Post)
Directions:
1. Lay your kiddo on a piece of paper that is large enough to trace around their whole body.
We started out on brown paper, but for better pictures we switched to using 2 white foam boards.
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2. Review diagram and add body parts to your kiddos traced body. Simple!
We looked at our human diagram in our encyclopedia and then searched our house for things that we could use to represent her body parts. I didn’t have all the supplies laid out, but if you wanted to make the activity go by faster you could. Ms. Tiger felt like it was a treasure hunt and loved finding supplies.
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We used our clay to shape bones. I did one side of her body and she did the other. I love how she has an awareness of her bones now. I had her squeeze around her arm and poke around her abdomen so she could feel her bones. I also arched my back so she could feel my spine. She likes to feel everyone’s spine now. After making lots of tiny bones out of clay for her feet and hands I had her open and close her hands and I pointed out each bone between each knuckle. She was amazed.
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A BIG rule in our house is not to put plastic around our mouth but I broke the rule with this activity because I wanted her to gain an understanding of our lungs. I had her exhale and inhale into a small plastic bag so she could see it inflate and deflate. I think it is a great visual representation (I still remember being amazed when I watched lungs expand with air in Human Anatomy 101). Then I had her deep breath without the bag and feel her chest rise and fall. If you plan on doing this please make sure your kiddo knows that plastic bags are dangerous and don’t belong around mouths.
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More B for Body Ideas:
What is Blood Made of by I Can Teach my Child
Parts of the Blood (all edible supplies) by My Montessori Journey
Human Body: The Backbone (simple model) by Spell Outloud
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Have a great day! Love, Katie & the Kiddos
I LOVE this activity! It's so cool how you found things around the house to represent the body parts!
Hi Viviana, thanks so much! It was really fun and I was impressed at how much Ms. Tiger understood with our abstract representations.
This looks like so much fun. I love the body parts out of random stuff from the house!
Hi Anne, thanks so much! It was fun trying to find things that made a good visual representation of each part.
This is AWE.SOME! Great job, Mama. Just brilliant!
XOXO
Hi Mrs. AOK, thanks for visiting and the super sweet comment! I am so glad you like our activity 🙂
I remember tracing the kiddos bodies when they were younger. I love how you used all of the household items to represent the different body parts. Wonderfully fun learning.
Hi Jeannine, thank you so much for visiting and the lovely comment! It was sure nice being able to keep the activity simple and grab things from around the house.
What a great way to learn about the body for little ones!
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
HI Jill, thanks for visiting!
very cool activity!! It seems challenging to explain our bodies to young children but you laid this out in such a fun child friendly way!!
Hi Susen thanks so much you are so sweet! I wasn't sure if my daughter was going to understand, but it really did seem to help answer some of her questions! 🙂