Our Body - Week 1 Body Parts - Day 1 Skeleton

January always begins our introduction to body parts with the little ones and body parts in Spanish to the older children. In my 3-year rotating curriculum, this year it also means delving into the actual body...

• Anatomy
• Five Senses
• Health and Hygiene
• Dental Health

This first week we look inside. We begin to formulate the concept that there are processes working within us that are important and identifiable. Our daily schedule is:

• Monday - Skeleton
• Tuesday - Muscles
• Wednesday - Digestive System
• Thursday - Respiratory System
• Friday - Circulatory System

 
Monday - Skeleton

The teaching elements for today are:

• We each have a skeleton
• Our skeleton is necessary to give us form
• Our skeleton lets us move, but some moves are limited, and joints
• Our skeleton is made of bones and cartilage, properties of each
• These can become damaged and will repair

Beginning Discussion - Focused on the elements above and exploring our bodies to feel our bones and moving to test out our theories.

Language - Are skeletons scary? That question produced a variety of responses and I asked them each to justify their position.

Math - We counted some the number of joints in our hands and the number of bones in some pictures.

Science - We studied x-rays of our skeletons and other animals and poked and prodded our own bodies to feel what was underneath our skin. We felt up spines, collar bones, hip bones, ribs, skulls and joints.

Fine Motor: Dog bones make wonderful dominoes. One side is sight words, the other is colors, differentiating for the two age groups I have going on.

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Gross Motor: We watched The Skeleton Dance, one of our favorites, [a few times] and followed the actions.

Music/Finger Play: 

Parts That Bend (tune: BINGO)

My arms have parts that bend and move
Every time I use them.
Shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand.
Shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand.
Shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand.
And this is how I move them!

My legs have parts that bend and move
Every time I use them.
Knee, ankle, heel and foot
Knee, ankle, heel and foot
Knee, ankle, heel and foot
And this is how I move them!

My trunk has parts that bend and move
Every time I use them.
Neck, back, waist and hips
Neck, back, waist and hips
Neck, back, waist and hips
And this is how I move them!

I'm made of parts that bend and move
Every time I use them.
Shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand..
Knee, ankle, heel and foot.
Neck, back, waist and hips
And this is how I move them!

Book(s): These two are a little old for them, but I own them for my son and they made great reference books. We mainly studied the visuals and read a bit of the text.

 

This was our story book for the day.

Sensory: I save all of my large beef bones, boil them and clean them completely. We use these for our dinosaur digs, Halloween, and this unit. The children get out their magnifying glasses and study them and feel them.

If older, they could play with some 3 foot plastic skeletons I purchased at the dollar store during last Halloween. However, at just around 3 years old, I feel those are too flimsy to last more than 30 seconds with this group.

But I do have a large plastic skeleton that has some wear and tear and even though s/he is in parts, and missing a foot due to a long-ago pet, the pieces are sturdy and life-size and they can really get a good idea of what is going on with their skeletons.

Most items are left available throughout the unit for exploration during free time. Many of these blog pics were taken during those occasions. 

Tags: science, body, body parts, skeleton, anatomy, physiology, bones, theme, unit, preschool, childcare, child, care, daycare, prek, kindergarten