Understanding the World (Body parts)

As we all are aware, juiceboxesandcrayone is an all-around educational blog. In view of this, we shall be reviewing another aspect of our 6 fold key learning area which is Understanding the World (UW). Let’s start with the basics which is “Me and My Environment” with the subtopic “My Body”.

The best tip for teaching young learners body parts is lots of action songs where they sing and touch or move the body parts they mention. Traditional songs with body parts vocab include:

• Head Shoulders Knees and Toes (+ eyes, ears, mouth and nose)
• Hokey Cokey (left/ right + arm and leg)
• One Little Finger (+ lap or any body parts you get students to place their fingers on)
• If You’re Happy and You Know It (hands, feet and head)
• The Pinocchio (left/ right + arm and leg)
• One Finger One Thumb (+ arm, leg and head)
• One Two Three Four Five Touch Your Head Along with Me (+ hands and feet)

In the classroom you could attempt these fun activities;

1. Refer to Animals

Sometimes, kids may not respond to addressing their own body parts or somebody else’s due to repetition. You can opt for using animal soft toys or images and point out that even they have legs and eyes and noses. You can start showing the difference between some animals having a tail but not us. If you have a pet in the house, then nothing like it.

2. Make Use of Props

Give your child a small toy which he can use to point at. So when you say nose, ask him to point at his nose in the mirror or your nose. This can also be combined with a game using stickers. Give him a sticker and ask him to put it on your hand and see if he can do it the right way.

3. Describe Various Functions

Children learn a lot from first-hand examples. Make use of sensory perceptions to help them understand it better. Close your baby’s eyes and say out loud “eyes closed”, “eyes open” and so on. This will help them associate the act of seeing with eyes. Same can be repeated for other senses, especially for the nose, which can help him smell and identify different aromas.