Book Love: Bones

This year multiple kids have expressed an interest in learning a little more about bones, so I included that topic as we've been discussing how to take care of our bodies.

One of my favorite non-fiction authors/illustrators is Steve Jenkins, and his book Bones is a fun and fascinating way to look at different kinds of skeletons.

This is not a book that I read word-for-word outloud to a class of this age group, but the fantastic illustrations are great for exploring what different parts of the body look like as a skeleton. The kids get also get really caught up in guessing and comparing the different animal bones as well.

Read-Aloud Tip: As you move through the pages, invite the kids to try to find and explore the different bones in their body. This works especially well with all the different bones in your hand. This time around I had some kids get really excited when they discovered the bones in their head and face.

Bones Art Extension Activity:  We created our own bones art using glue and q-tips. Some kids also turned their name into bones.

Brush Your Teeth

We've been talking about things that we do with our families, and this week's focus has been learning to take care of our bodies. Here are some of the ways we've been exploring our teeth.

Toothbrush Painting

This art activity is always a hit. We brushed white paint onto yellow paper to make happy smiles.

Although I drew the outline for their first mouth to paint, one student wanted to create his own for a second go around. He kept count of how many teeth he had brushed and cleaned as he painted, which was a fun process to observe. 

Brushing and Flossing Dramatic Play

I painted plastic egg cartons and the bottoms of clear soda bottles to create "teeth" for us to work with this year. The kids could make cavities using play dough or dry erase markers, and then floss and brush the teeth.

Counting and Adding with "The Mouth Game"

I use this activity as both a free play game and a "teacher time" game- meaning I directed the play with small groups or individuals. I played this with individual students, and varied the objectives depending on their level and understanding. The simplest way to play is to roll the dice and add that number of teeth to the mouth. It's a great way to build number sense, and practice counting and creating sets with one-to-one correspondence

I added additional challenges for my pre-K students, such as determining the partners of 10 (each mouth has 10 spaces) or adding their previous number with their new number to determine the new total.

If you play this game like a race, where you take turns and see who can fill up their mouth first, then it lends itself to some great math talk about who has the most, who has the least, how many spaces are left, etc.

Felt Board Singing and Play

I also have some felt board pieces of a mouth and teeth that I use for songs and other activities. I often use this mouth with small black pieces to talk about cavities, and involve the kids in brushing them away as we talk about how to keep our teeth strong and healthy. 

Scissor Skills with Paper Strips

Snipping strips of paper is one way for kids to practice using scissors that is less frustrating or overwhelming than working with a whole piece of paper. Today we made a paper leaf pile by snipping colored strips of paper.

I use colored pom-poms on the top of my scissors to remind kids where to put their thumbs, and to keep their thumb up as they cut. Every time they snip, they are developing the fine motor skills that will enable them to eventually cut more challenging projects with ease and confidence. As their muscle strength and coordination increases, using scissors will become an automatic skill.

We used our snippings to create simple fall tree collages. Picking up the small pieces of paper, pressing them into the glue sponge, and placing them on the collage also requires the use of fine motor skills.

When I plan projects like this, I always try to think beyond my adult-like tendency to focus on the final product. Sure, I want my students to create something that they are proud of. But my learning objectives almost always have to do more with the process than the product. In this case, I saw an opportunity to encourage different kinds of fine motor development with the creation of what some might see as just a simple fall tree.