Body Part Awareness
Presented By: Allison S.Marquez
Purpose:
To help children understand body part names and locations.
Concept:
Identification of Body parts
Grade Level:
Preschool through First
Materials Needed:
None; open area
Organizational Pattern:
Have children either sit or stand in an open area. Have teacher stand at the front of the class so all the children can see and hear.
Description of the Activity / Task:
One might think that all preschool children know the parts of their bodies. But this is not true for all children. Even those who can recite the names of various parts might not understand the relationships of those parts and their potential for movement. A fun beginning activity is simply to ask children to locate with their hands different parts of the body. Children can be sitting on their carpet squares in a circle at the beginning or end of class. This typically would take no more than 2 to 3 minutes. A list of some body parts for children to identify is listed below.
- Head
- Back
- Elbow
- Nose
- Wrist
- Feet
- Ankles
- Shoulders
- Stomach
Modification:
Teacher can instruct students to touch two parts of the body at the same time. Teacher could also increase the speed of their instruction to the class. Another possible modification is to have students touch the different body parts to music.