Develop children's understanding of our internal organs.
Planned learning intention
To identify the features of living things and human beings
Resources
Lengths of paper large enough for a child to lie on, Nursery Topics poster, small caption-sized slips of card or paper, drawing and writing materials.
Step by step
* In small groups, refer to the Nursery Topics poster and name the different parts of the body. Encourage children who speak a first language other than English to name them in their home language and a monolingual practitioner can learn from them.
* Ask one of the children to lie on the paper and draw round them. Ask the group to add eyes, hair, etc.
* Have printed slips of body parts and ask the children to position them correctly. Have blank slips ready for the children to write on and add to the figure.
* At a later stage, draw another figure, leaving it blank and discuss with the children what they think might be happening inside their bodies.
* Record their comments on the figure as large as the space allows.
* Let the children work in twos or threes on more blank figures, and ask them to draw on the elements of the human body that most interest them, for example, bones, or the digestive system.
* Display these figures as a giant flipbook beneath the figure.
Stepping stones
* A child with little experience may choose to observe, rather than participate or may contribute randomly to the discussion. They may be able to point to a body part when directed but may be unable to name them all, on request.
* A child with more experience can probably name basic body parts, but may be unsure of others. They may be able to offer body part vocabulary in a home language and attempt to explain body functions. They will probably be able to complete the task with adult support and may begin to retain new information.
* An experienced child will probably be able to complete the task with a degree of independence. They will demonstrate a sound awareness of basic body part language and function and will retain new information easily. They will probably be able to record their learning in writing and diagrams and be able to read labels. They may choose to revisit the activity in their self-initiated play and drawings.
