For this lesson you will need:
Cereal Bowl
Spoon
Flour
Popcorn kernels or dried beans
Counting item/Counting jar
Music
Scrubs or other Doctor-like clothes
Toy Stethescope
Measuring Tape
Bathroom Scale
Notebook/Pen (for recording results)
Flashlight
Tongue Depressor
Pillow
Real X-rays from doctor or dentist office, if possible
Black Construction Paper (1 piece per child)
White Chalk
Cardboard Box (the bigger the better)
Jell-o
Fruit (to go inside Jell-o)
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 ‘24’: Have you ever gotten a really big owie? How did you get it and what did you do to make it feel better?
Number of the day: Before preschool, fill a cereal bowl with flour and place it on top of newspaper or paper towels (for easy clean up). Bury 24 popcorn kernels or dried beans in the flour. When it’s time, have children take turns using a spoon to find a kernel and dig it out. When all kernels have been found, line them up and point to each one as the children count aloud to 24. Display the number 24 so they can see what the number looks like.
Have children work together to count 24 of a designated item and place it in the counting jar. Remind them of the reward they will get once the jar is filled.
Letter of the Day ‘X’: Display the letter X . Tell children you are going to play some music. Whenever the music stops, they must make their bodies into the shape of the letter X. (Demonstrate if necessary, with arms above your head, spread diagonally, and legs spread far apart….Think cheerleader!) Switch it up a bit and say “This time when the music stops, make your fingers into the letter X!” Continue with this, having them also create X’s out of their arms, legs and feet.
Discuss the sound that an X makes and have them repeat a few X words after you just to get the hang of it: Xylophone, and Xerox
Point out that we don’t use too many words that begin with the letter X.
Demonstrate how the capital and lowercase forms of the letter X are written, and allow children to practice in their writing notebooks.
Teach the ASL sign for ‘X’ as well as the signs for Xerox (copy) and X-ray!
Introduction of Topic: Put on scrubs if you have them, or any other clothes that might resemble a doctor’s outfit. Hang a toy stethoscope around your neck and say
“Good Morning Kiddos! My name is Doctor __________ (insert fun fake name here). Have any of you ever been to a Doctor’s office before? What do you remember about it?” Allow children to share their answers.
“Going to the Doctor can be a little bit scary sometimes, especially when we don’t know what’s going to happen! Doctors are people who went to school for many years to learn all about our bodies and how to take care of them and keep them healthy! They also learned all about how to fix our bodies when something goes wrong. What are some things that could go wrong with our bodies?” Stomachaches, headaches, bloody noses, cuts, rashes, sore throats and broken bones.
“Doctors and nurses are here to help us, so we don’t need to be afraid. Let’s talk about what goes on at the doctor’s office.” Have everyone stand up and lead them to another area of the house where you have set it up like a waiting room with chairs, a couple of toys and a few magazines. Explain that when you first walk in to the office, you will see the waiting room, a place where we sit and wait for our turn to go see the doctor. Show them some pieces of paper and explain that Moms and Dads have to fill out some papers when they get there, to help the doctor know if the child is sick or has had any problems with their body. Doctors use these papers to help them figure out what might be wrong, and how they can help.
"When it is our turn to see the doctor, a nurse will call your name out loud. When we hear your name, we follow the nurse to a room where she will ask you questions about how you’ve been feeling and if any thing hurts. The nurse will then measure you to see how tall you’ve gotten, and how much you weigh. They do this to make sure your body is growing well." Lead them to your living room where you have set up a doctor’s bed with a pillow and a chair for you to sit in, along with some medical supplies: tongue depressor, a flashlight, pen (or something else that could look like a shot).
Measure children with a measuring tape and record their heights in your ‘doctor notebook’. If you have a bathroom scale, measure their weight, and record it as well. Give each child a turn to sit on the doctor bed and proceed to check their eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and reflexes with your special tools. Jot some things down in your doctor notebook after each examination. Explain why it is important for a doctor to check each of these things.
You may want to point out that sometimes when they go to the doctor, they will need to be given a shot. A shot is actually a special kind of medicine that doctors give children so they will not get sick. Sometimes it may hurt for a minute, and it's okay to cry when it hurts, but after a minute it will feel much better. Make sure they understand that when shots are given, its not because we want to hurt them, its because we love them and want them to be healthy.
"Sometimes children come to the doctors office when they’re feeling good, just for a check up to make sure their bodies are healthy. Others come in when they are feeling sick….and then there are some that come to the doctor because they’ve been hurt and they need to see if they have any broken bones!
“Doctors can see cuts and rashes because they’re on top of our skin, but they can’t see our bones, because bones are on the inside of our bodies!! How do you think Doctors can know if we have broken bones?” Introduce the X-ray machine. Explain that this machine is a very special type of camera that is able to see through our skin to the inside of our bodies. Doctors use these machines to find out if there’s anything wrong with our bones or other parts of the body.” Ask if any one has been to the dentist. Explain that the dentist will often take x-rays of the teeth to make sure they are healthy and strong and to make sure they don’t have any cavities. Without x-rays, we would never know what is going on inside of our bodies. X-rays are pretty spectacular machines! (Have kids say the word ‘spectacular’ just for kicks)
If you were able to obtain any x-rays from a doctor or dentist office, present them to the children. Ask them how an x-ray picture is different from a regular picture. Point out the different body parts you see in the x-ray and allow them to ask any questions they may have.
Explain what will happen if the doctor looks at an x-ray and sees a broken bone. The doctor will wrap it in a hard cast for a few weeks until the bone can grow back together. (Point out how incredible our bodies are, that they are able to heal themselves.)
Stories: Jessica’s X-ray by Pat Zonta
The Skeleton Inside You by Philip Balestrino
The X-ray Picture Book of Amazing Animals by Gerald Legg
Craft: Help children trace their hands onto a black piece of construction paper, and go over the outline with a white piece of chalk. Have them use the chalk to draw bones inside of their hands, just like an x-ray.
Then…..Use a big box to create an X-ray machine (complete with an ‘on’ button)
Activity: Have the children take turns stepping (or laying) inside of the x-ray machine..push the button, and pretend to examine their bones. After they step out, present them with the x-ray picture they made and tell them about any broken bones you might have found. Bandage them up with a dish towel, then allow children to examine you in the x-ray machine!
Snack: Prepare Jell-o with fruit in it. Explain that this is much like the way an x-ray works, because you can see the fruit even though it’s inside the jell-o, just like an x-ray helps you to see your bones, even though they’re inside your body! (thanks to EverythingPreschool.com for this idea!)
Service: Give someone an X-tra big hug today
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 X), 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.)
