Let’s learn body parts in a fun and easy way! This activity is perfect for preschoolers and young learners. With simple words, colorful pictures, and songs, children can learn and remember body parts while playing. Learning English can be fun!
There are lots of ideas on the web for teaching children about the human body. I chose some of them that I found appropriate also for ESL students.
We started learning by introducing the parts of the body: head, shoulders, knees, toes, eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Depending on the age or level of the students you are teaching, start with three or four words per class.
Ideas for flashcard games while teaching the parts of the body:
Simon Says
When you say "Simon says touch your head" students need to touch their head. But when you say "Touch your head", without "Simon", they must not touch their head. If they do they are out of the game. Repeat the game with all the body parts you have introduced.
What’s Missing?
Place four familiar cards face up in a row. Ask your children to close their eyes. Now, they can open their eyes and guess which one is missing. Turn that card face up again and add one more card to the pile. Ask your students to close their eyes again and turn two cards over. Gradually add few cards more, depending on how many you have introduced at the time, and turn more cards for students to guess what's missing.
Touch the Ball
You will need one ball per pair of students sitting on the floor and facing each other. The ball is on the floor between them. You give them instruction to touch a certain part of the body e.g. "Touch your head/knees/head...." After some time, you will tell them to touch the ball. The student who picks the ball first is the winner. Now, only the winners play the game. Divide them into pairs again and repeat the game as instructed. Play the game until there is just one pair of students left. The winner is the last student picking the ball first.
Pass The Card
The students and the teacher sit in a circle. The teacher starts by passing a picture card to the student on his right, saying, “This is a cat.” The student takes the card and passes it to the next student, saying, “This is a cat.” The card is passed around the circle. When the card returns to the teacher, the teacher puts that card aside and introduces a new picture card in the same manner. When the students have learned a few picture cards, the teacher has a few options:
a) wait until a card has reached the halfway mark, then introduce a second card going in the same direction;
b) introduce cards at the same time going in opposite directions,
c) send 3-4 cards around the circle in the same directions with little pause between each. Tip: four cards is probably the maximum number of cards to work with at one time.
a) wait until a card has reached the halfway mark, then introduce a second card going in the same direction;
b) introduce cards at the same time going in opposite directions,
c) send 3-4 cards around the circle in the same directions with little pause between each. Tip: four cards is probably the maximum number of cards to work with at one time.
For more flashcard games check Simple ideas for introducing language using flashcards.
For the "Follow up" activity you can ask children to draw their body or their face using this template
Or you can use this idea for the activity "The Teeth in My Mouth" with styrofoam and color paper
Instead of using styrofoam, you can also use white beans.
Sing the "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" song
While the song plays you do all the action and encourage your students to do the same. Repeat the song singing it a little bit faster, then faster, and faster. Until you can not sing it faster. Students will love it and ask you to sing it more.
If you have already sung "Head, Sholders Knees and Toes" you can sing the "Open Close" song
Sing the "Hockey Pockey" song for level 2 (more body parts)
"All about me" chant
This is a great chant for ESL students to learn. It's very easy to learn when you add appropriate TPR (e.g. ten little fingers - wiggle with your fingers; ten little toes - wiggle or touch your toes, etc.).All about me
Ten little fingers
Ten little toes,
two little ears
and one little nose.
Two little eyes,
shining so bright.
Two little lips,
to kiss you good night!
We also did some "Skeleton" crafts after introducing words: skull, skeleton, bone, brain, lungs, and exploring human skeleton through different media.
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I created the "Human digestion" labyrinth to help my students understand how food travels through the body.
