Lena is almost 4 now, and she has long known her basic body parts. When I set out to plan a preschool week about our bodies for her, I knew I wanted to cover more than just head, arms, legs, eyes, etc. She asks a lot of questsions about what goes on inside our bodies, so that's what I wanted to focus on. And as usual, Maggie (just turned 2) is just sort of along for the ride! Here's a look at our My Body Theme Preschool Week.
If you regularly do preschool using weekly themes, be sure to check out Over 30 COMPLETE Weekly Preschool Theme Units that we've completed as well as my entire list of 52 Weekly Preschool Themes. You may also want to check out of Daily Home Preschool Schedule and this handy FREE Printable Preschool Planning Page.
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Skeleton Q-Tip Craft
Make a skeleton out of cotton swabs and black construction paper. Cut some swabs in half if you need to, and glue them to the paper using school glue. The basic body parts that you need are arms, legs, and ribs. Cut a head out of white construction paper.
Stomach Magazine Collage
Make a collage of favorite foods in our tummies. Draw a basic outline of a stomach on a sheet of construction paper. Give your preschooler some old cooking magazines and let them cut out pictures of foods they like. Glue them onto the stomach. Easy!
Body Diagram
Using a long roll of paper, have your child(ren) lie down and trace the outline of their bodies. Then, depending on how complicated your body lessons are this week, work together to sketch and label different parts. Look closely-- Lena wanted me to add 'poop'!
Phonics/Reading
Using index cards, make some basic labels for body parts that you think your preschooler might be able to sound out with some help. Arm, leg, foot, and hand should be fairly easy. If you've done the body tracing craft, you can glue them on to the appropriate area.
Body Books
Look around your house to see what books you have about bodies. We had several baby books that identify basic body parts. In addition, I picked up this encyclopedia from Amazon, and pulled out The Eye Book and The Tooth Book from my book stash. Lena loves the encyclopedia, even though much of it was above her comprehension level. The pictures are great, and I think we'll get a lot of use from it as the girls get older. Everything from DK publishing is fantastic. When I'm choosing a resource and there is a DK version available, it's usually what I choose. If you don't feel like buying, see what your library has available!
from Amazon, and pulled out The Eye Book and The Tooth Book from my book stash. Lena loves the encyclopedia, even though much of it was above her comprehension level. The pictures are great, and I think we'll get a lot of use from it as the girls get older. Everything from DK publishing is fantastic. When I'm choosing a resource and there is a DK version available, it's usually what I choose. If you don't feel like buying, see what your library has available! Body Snacks
Build a little person out of any thing long and skinny (cheese sticks, pretzals, carrot slices, celery) to make the torso and limbs, and anything round (crackers, sliced cucumber, banana) to make a head. Embellish with what you have for hair, facial features, hands, and feet.
Math
Coming up with math ideas was tricky for this unit! I taught Lena how many bones we have in our body (206!) and we had some basic greater than/less than discussion when we did our heart rate activity.Science
We did two main science experiments this week. The first was about heartrate. After reading the pages in our new encyclopedia, and talking about how the heart works and what it does, I took the girls' resting heart rates. Then I put on music and they danced around for a few minutes. Then I took their pulse again, and we talked about why it was so much higher.
The second science experiment was about our lungs. We took a bowl of water and straws, and blew bubbles. I had them take deep breaths, explained how they'd filled their lungs with air, and then they blew that air into the water, making bubbles.
Social Studies/ Imaginative Play
A doctor is a 'community helper' that is often part of preschool curriculum. The girls played doctor several times this week, listening to hearts, providing shots and bandages, and taking blood pressure. I tried to point out some of the things we had learned during the week while they played.Music
We sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and watched (but didn't learn) some YouTube videos about the names of the bones in the body.Gross Motor- Yoga
Ride bicycles or do one of our children's yoga movies. Discuss how exercise keeps our bodies strong and healthy, making sure to include how it builds muscles and keeps our hearts working well, pumping oxygen to our muscles and throughout our bodies. The girls both love these Gaiam Kids yoga movies and I don't feel the least bit guilty putting one on while I cook dinner.
Fine Motor- Body Drawing
Draw pictures of bodies. Lena can easily draw basic stick figures, but this week I stretched her a little, and asked her to draw additional details like hands, fingers, feet, toes, and more specific facial features. She loved it!Technology
Benny Bones is a fun app that teaches kids the names of bones. After just a few minutes of playing, Lena had picked up a few names of the bones. One of the playing options is a puzzle, which works on spatial skills as well.
Need even more ideas for a my body week? Follow Cutting Tiny Bites on Pinterest or check out My Body board below.
You May Also Be Interested In
The Five Senses- Weekly Home Preschool ThemeHealthy After School Snacks From A to Z
Great Chapter Books For Preschoolers
Books about Healthy Eating
From Other Great Bloggers
Moving My Body Gross Motor Game from Life Over C'sZiploc "My Body" Book from I Can Teach My Child
Human Body Dot Marker Pages from Royal Baloo
Learning About The Body from Kids Activities Blog
