Games to Play: Parts of the Body

As far as I am concerned, you get major bang for your learning buck when you incorporate games and movement ... these options should do the trick!

Body Race

Tell your toddler to race as fast as she can toward you. When she gets to you, say, "Touch my knee!" She has to touch the right body part to get a sticker, then run back to home base. Continue the race until she's correctly named all the body parts or she's so tired, she needs a rest.

Roll With It, Body!

Find a large cube and paste pictures of different body parts on it. Let the children take turns rolling the 'dice' and then chant ... When Benjamin rolls the dice, We touch our (Body Part) ...

Musical Body Parts

Here is a fun version of musical chairs that is great for movement and learning body parts. Make sure each child has a defined "spot" (carpet square, scarf spread out; I used placemats). These spots should be randomly placed around the room. The more room you have the better! Each child begins by standing on a spot and moves as you direct when the music begins. You might say, "crawl" and everybody crawls around the room. When the music stops each child will begin to return to their spot. As they reach their spot you will yell out a body part, for example, "elbow", and the children will touch their elbow to their spot. Begin the music again with a new movement and a new body part to stop with. A little chaotic but very fun :)