Skeleton

Do this around Halloween and use the pictures for decorations.

Objectives

Children will be able to identify various bone structures such as the skull and ribs
and they will be able to being to understand the skeletal system
Children ages 2-2 ½ years can point to smaller parts of body such as the knee Lang. IA
and they can point to 4-5 body parts in a picture Lang. IA

 
 

Materials

Black paper; white chalk; plastic model of skeleton and/or large Halloween skeleton; books and illustrations of body and skeletal system; dried chicken or lamb bone which shows a joint.

Procedures

1. Have children sit at a small table with the books and model on the table. Display large Halloween skeleton on a nearby wall. Begin with a simple description of the skeletal system. Identify the different bones.

2. Choose one child to stand on top of the table and bend various joints. Tell all the children to feel their skulls and move their jaw bones. Show them the chicken or lamb bone joint. Ask children to imagine not having bones in their bodies. Could they stand up? Walk around? Has anyone ever had a broken bone?

3. Give them each a piece of black paper with an outline of a body drawn in white chalk. Let them take chalk and draw in their own version of the skeleton.

4. As they are drawing, again talk about the various bones in the body. Help them identify body parts as they draw in the bones.

See Illustration.