Body Parts
Body parts are some of the most important labels we can teach children. Body parts help answer important questions like, "What hurts?" or "What did you hit?" Think about how many times we tell children instructions like, "Use your fingers to paint." or "Don't use your fingers to eat." If a child doesn't understand the word "fingers" they will have a very difficult time using or not using them appropriately.
Developmentally, children between one and two should be able to point to simple body parts when they are asked to, which means they receptively understand those words. By two and a half, a child should be able to expressively identify many body parts. This means that by 2 1/2, your child should be able to both point to and say the name of a body part. The body parts they are able to name will vary slightly depending on what you teach them. For example, I had a speech teacher that taught all of his children to point to their throats and say, "larynx." Obviously, that isn't super common among parents. Your child should know the basic parts of their face (eyes, ears, mouth, nose) and their limbs (arms, legs, feet, hands, head) by 2 1/2.
For me, I use two songs to talk about body parts--head, shoulders, knees, and toes, and the hokey pokey. Head, shoulders, knees, and toes is a quick and easy way to get kids to both hear and touch 8 parts of the body. I use a handy visual that I found while google searching one day that looks like this:
When I use this visual in therapy, I point to each picture as we go through the song the first time we sing it together. The second time we sing it, I place the visual where my client can see it and then I do the motions for the song with them. I sing it at least 2 times, but up to 4 or 5 times if the kid really likes the song.
The second song I love to use is the Hokey Pokey. The Hokey Pokey is great because I can emphasize any particular body parts I want to! If we just want to talk about eyes, feet, and knees, that is all we sing about! Initially with kiddos I try to use body parts that are far away from each other (like nose, tummy, and feet) so that they don't get confused (like saying ear for eye, etc). Kids love to shake it all about! If you are in a big enough space with kids who really need some movement, getting to shake and turn is great for the kids! It's a super fun song and emphasizes exactly what I need it to. Man, I love the Hokey Pokey.
When I sing Hokey Pokey, I use easy clip art pictures to show the kid what body part we're talking about. Like these for example:
To talk about one body part in particular, I like to sing something like, "This is the way we touch our nose" (This is the way we touch our nose, touch our nose, touch our nose. This is the way we touch our nose, early in the morning) or "[kid's name] has a little nose" to the tune of Mary had a little Lamb (Jessica has a little nose, little nose, little nose. Jessica has a little nose and this is how we [touch, tickle, poke, etc] it.)
I love the Sandra Boynton book Horns to Toes, and In Between which goes through all sorts of different monster body parts. I also love her book Let's Dance Little Pookie which shows a pig and his mom doing things like putting shoes on their feet, hopping around, and is an easy and quick book to label body parts in.
References
Developmentally, children between one and two should be able to point to simple body parts when they are asked to, which means they receptively understand those words. By two and a half, a child should be able to expressively identify many body parts. This means that by 2 1/2, your child should be able to both point to and say the name of a body part. The body parts they are able to name will vary slightly depending on what you teach them. For example, I had a speech teacher that taught all of his children to point to their throats and say, "larynx." Obviously, that isn't super common among parents. Your child should know the basic parts of their face (eyes, ears, mouth, nose) and their limbs (arms, legs, feet, hands, head) by 2 1/2.
For me, I use two songs to talk about body parts--head, shoulders, knees, and toes, and the hokey pokey. Head, shoulders, knees, and toes is a quick and easy way to get kids to both hear and touch 8 parts of the body. I use a handy visual that I found while google searching one day that looks like this:
The second song I love to use is the Hokey Pokey. The Hokey Pokey is great because I can emphasize any particular body parts I want to! If we just want to talk about eyes, feet, and knees, that is all we sing about! Initially with kiddos I try to use body parts that are far away from each other (like nose, tummy, and feet) so that they don't get confused (like saying ear for eye, etc). Kids love to shake it all about! If you are in a big enough space with kids who really need some movement, getting to shake and turn is great for the kids! It's a super fun song and emphasizes exactly what I need it to. Man, I love the Hokey Pokey.
When I sing Hokey Pokey, I use easy clip art pictures to show the kid what body part we're talking about. Like these for example:
To talk about one body part in particular, I like to sing something like, "This is the way we touch our nose" (This is the way we touch our nose, touch our nose, touch our nose. This is the way we touch our nose, early in the morning) or "[kid's name] has a little nose" to the tune of Mary had a little Lamb (Jessica has a little nose, little nose, little nose. Jessica has a little nose and this is how we [touch, tickle, poke, etc] it.)
I love the Sandra Boynton book Horns to Toes, and In Between which goes through all sorts of different monster body parts. I also love her book Let's Dance Little Pookie which shows a pig and his mom doing things like putting shoes on their feet, hopping around, and is an easy and quick book to label body parts in.
References
- All images from google images
- ASHA on speech development for 1-2 year olds
- Toddler Developmental Milestones
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