Learning about the unique nature of our bodies, and the importance of taking good care of them
For this lesson you will need:
Several ‘B’ items
something with a pleasing smell
toy stethoscope
stamp pad
balloon(deflated)
toothbrush and floss
cup
coin
pencil
a toy
and some food from your pantry
Welcome Song: (To tune of Old MacDonald):
Welcome, welcome everyone
So glad that you are here.
Today we’re gonna have some fun
So let’s give out a cheer
Woo hoo!!
Clap clap clap clap
Slap(legs) slap slap slap
Clap clap clap let’s go! (when you shout “let’s go!”, do a group high five in the center)
Question of the day: What is one nice thing you did for someone yesterday? Pass the speaking bear around allowing each child to share their answer. Share your experience as well.
Number of the day '2': Before preschool, draw the number 2 on a piece of paper and cut it into four or five pieces (to look like puzzle pieces). When it’s time, say “I’m thinking of a number…can you guess what it is?” Lay down the first puzzle piece and see if they can tell what it is. Put the puzzle together one piece at a time, pausing between each one to allow them to guess. When puzzle is finished, ask them what number it is. Pass around sticker basket and ask them to pick out two stickers each, to put on the sticker chart.
Have children stand and do 2 jumping jacks, 2 twirls, 2 push-ups and 2 sit-ups while counting aloud. Hand them a towel to wipe their faces (for effect.)
Letter of the day ‘B’: Before preschool, hide several B items underneath the cushions of your couch. (Brush, bead, belt, bag, bean, beanie hat, ball etc.)
When it’s time to introduce the letter of the day, pretend that you lost your pen, and suggest that maybe you should look for it under the cushions of the couch. Act surprised when you find something else under the couch cushion. Pull one item out and have the children say aloud what it is. Say “We found the ball, but not my pen. Let’s keep looking.” Continue looking until each of the ‘B’ items have been pulled out and identified. Ask children to look at the pile of items and tell you what letter each of the items start with. After this, pull your pen out of your pocket (where it was kept hidden) and say “Oops,here’s my pen. It was in my pocket the whole time!”
Teach children the ASL sign for the letter B, and demonstrate how to write the capital and lowercase forms of the letter.
Allow children to practice in their writing notebooks
Teach the ASL signs for Banana, Bear, and Body.
Introduction of topic: Have one child stand up in front of the others, while you say: “I’m looking at ‘John’ and I see that he has 2 ears. Ask each of the children what kind of things they see when they look at John. Give each of them a turn to say “I’m looking at John and I see ____________.” (If there is only one child present you can make observations about each other.)
“All of these parts that we see, make up John’s body.” Ask children, “Do you have a body too?” “Is your body the same as John’s body?”
“All people have bodies. All of our bodies are different.” Point out differences between the children, such as hair color, presence of freckles, eye color, skin color and height. “People come in all different colors, shapes and sizes, and each body is unique and special. Unique means you’re the only one like you.”
“Our bodies allow us to see beautiful things” (show a picture, or let them look out the window, and ask about some of the things they see.)
“Our bodies allow us to smell wonderful smells (tell children to close their eyes while you pass some things under their noses to smell. A flower, lotion, candle, hot chocolate mix, orange slice, etc.) Our noses also help us to smell things that might cause danger.” Light a match and blow it out immediately, (reminding children that ONLY moms and dads may touch the matches,) and ask them to describe what they smell. Explain that our noses can keep us safe from dangerous situations like fires, and help prevent us from eating foods that have gone bad.
“Our bodies help us to hear important sounds.” Have children close their eyes and tell them to listen closely to the sounds they will hear.
Make the following sounds: Clapping hands, Zipping a zipper, blowing air, pouring water into a cup, etc.
After each sound, ask them what they heard. When their answers have been given, ask what they think it might be like for people who can not hear. Explain that there are many people in this world who can’t hear, and have to do things a little differently. These people are very good at knowing what is going on around them by using their eyes and other senses to help them. They often speak with their hands instead of their mouths in a language that we’re beginning to learn in preschool, called Sign Language. Have children show you the signs they learned earlier today. Explain that you can’t hear them, but you still understand what they said.
“Hearing helps us to know when there is danger. How many of you have heard a fire/smoke alarm?” Describe the loud beeping sound that a smoke alarm makes, and explain that we have them in our homes to warn us in case there’s ever a fire.
“Have you ever heard the siren on a fire truck? It’s very loud.” Have children imitate the siren sound. “The reason it is so loud, is so we know that they are in a hurry to help someone, and that we need to get out of the way. Next time you hear a fire truck siren, watch to see what your mom or dad do. They’ll probably slow down and drive to the side of the road to let the fire truck pass by.”
“Our bodies allow us to feel things, and taste things too.” You can feel if things are hard or soft, or squishy, or prickly (Have children feel a blanket, a rock, and a few other items. Ask them to describe what they feel)
Tell them we’ll do some tasting a little bit later. We must save the best for last.
Activity: “Since our bodies help us to do so many great things, its very important for us to take good care of them, so we can have them for a long time.”
Lead children to another area of the room, where you have set up 5 separate stations:
1: Heart Station
2: Lung Station
3: Dental Health Station
4: Handwashing Station
5: Eating and Exercise Station
Each station may be represented by tables, boxes, or chairs with props.
Lead the children through each station spending only a couple of minutes at each one.
Heart Station: Pretend to listen to their hearts with a play stethoscope. Have children jump up and down ten times and then feel their heart beat. Explain that for us to be able to move around, and play, our heart has to pump a lot of blood to different parts of our body. Have children clench one fist, and tell them this is the size of their heart. In order to keep it strong and healthy we must eat foods that are good for our bodies, and exercise every day. Have the children demonstrate some of their favorite exercises while everyone follows what they do. Discuss some of your favorite sports and activities as well.
Lung Station: Demonstrate how balloons are like our lungs. Have children breathe in deeply while you blow up a balloon. Slowly let the air out of the balloon as the children exhale. Have them breathe in and out again while they watch their tummies expand and contract. Explain that if we weren’t able to breathe, we wouldn’t be alive. Taking care of our lungs is one of the most important things we can do, and we can do this by never ever ever smoking, and staying where the air is clean.
Dental Health Station: Have children open their mouths nice and big while you count their teeth. Compliment them on their pearly whites. Hold up a toothbrush and ask “What on earth is this doing in the teeth station? What does this strange tool have to do with teeth?”
After their comments, ask if anyone knows why we brush our teeth two times every day.
Explain that bacteria are like super tiny little bugs who think our mouths are like a big restaurant. When they come into our mouths and see food on our teeth, they want to eat it all up, and then they try to eat holes right through our teeth!
If we take good care of our teeth and brush and floss them every day (hold up floss) the bacteria won’t be able to harm our teeth, and our mouths will be healthy and happy. Have children flash their very best smiles.
Demonstrate with the toothbrush how to brush properly, in a small circular motion.
Hand washing Station: The following items may be displayed: cup, coins, pencil, a toy. Explain that we touch many things with our hands each day. These items are just some of the things we touch.
Walk them through all of the things they might touch after they go to the bathroom. Explain that if they forget to wash their hands after they go to the bathroom, germs from their hands will get on every thing they touch. When other people touch the same things as you, then they’ll get germs on their hands as well.
“What will happen to those germs if we forget to wash our hands before we eat? It will get onto our food and into our bodies, and many times, will make us sick.
This is why it’s so important to wash our hands with soap and water.”
Demonstrate proper handwashing technique, over the bathroom sink, and allow each child to have a turn.
Healthy food station: This may be set up at kitchen table, where a variety of foods have been displayed. Explain that for our bodies to be healthy, we need to eat lots of different kinds of foods. Briefly introduce food groups. Explain that things like candy, soda, and other treats are ok to have every once in a while, but not all of the time.
Snack: Tell children it is time to do some tasting. Serve an item from each food group (an apple slice, carrot stick, slice of cheese, and a blob of peanut butter on a half piece of bread)
Art: Finger print art. Using a colored stamp pad and some paper, allow children to press their fingers into the ink and make fingerprints all over their paper. They may decorate the fingerprints to be bugs, people, animals, cars… etc. Let their imaginations fly… and be sure to point out that our bodies can be used for so many things!
Service: Explain to children that our bodies are also made for helping people. Lead children to a neighbor’s house and have them ask if they can take out their trash or sweep their walk. If it’s not possible to help a neighbor, ask them to do a chore in your own home.
Good bye song: To the tune of “If You’re Happy and you Know it”
If you’ve learned a lot today, clap your hands (clap clap)
Here’s the letter of the day (sign the letter B), clap your hands (clap clap)
Oh, we’ve had a lot of fun,
Now our preschool time is done (tap index finger to wrist)
See you next time (wave) and we’ll do it all again! (Clap clap.)
