This is my nephew, Charlie. I'd say he's ready to sing about his body parts. (This is an old picture. Charlie turned one this week!)
Four years ago, I was nannying for twin eighteen-month-old boys. We went to a free sing along at the neighborhood public school. At one point the man with the guitar asked for requests. Someone mentioned “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” He looked at the young kids around the room and said he didn’t think we were quiet ready for that song yet. I couldn’t bite my tongue hard enough and I insisted that no child was too young for “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.”
It might be true that very young children can’t identify their fingers from their toes yet, but that is exactly why we sing theses songs! As the adults in the room, we can touch their head when we sing about it. We show them their toes from their fingers. We ask them to find their nose and point to our ears. This is the learning process. We can’t start introducing topics only when children have a full grasp on them already…. start early!
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes... obviously
A variation... Try replacing all the the body parts with new ones. This can be tricky, but also very silly! Older children love this.
Elbows, wrists, thumbs and hair, thumbs and hair.
Elbows, wrists, thumbs and hair, thumbs and hair.
Hips and chest and belly and feet.
Elbows, wrists, thumbs and hair, thumbs and hair.
My Body
Tune: Oscar Mayer Wiener Song
I have two eyes, two ears and a nose,
To help me see and hear and smell my toes.
My lips and cheeks and chin are all in place,
Right on my happy smiling face.
I Wake Up My Hands
Tune: Buffalo Gals
I wake up my hands with a clap, clap, clap.
Clap, clap, clap. Clap, clap, clap.
I wake up my hands with a clap, clap clap,
At music class today!
Other body parts to wake up:
I wake up my toes with a tap, tap, tap.
I wake up my hips with a bounce, bounce, bounce.
I wake up my eyes with a blink, blink, blink.
I wake up my whole body with a hop, hop, hop.
There are many recorded songs that are great at helping children identify body parts. Here are a few of our favorites:
"Shake Your Body Down" by the Laurie Berkner Band
"Wiggle Your Lah-De-Dah" by Ralph's World
"Song in My Tummy" by the Laurie Berkner Band
"Clap Your Hands" by They Might Be Giants
"Spider on the Floor" by Raffi
Happy Singing!