Infants and toddlers are discovering their body and learning all the amazing things their bodies can do. The laptime theme, my body, will build on these discoveries and give little ones the practice and the words they need as they each gain more control and ownership of “my body.”
My Body: the Plan
Welcome: Open Them, Shut Them
Book: Ten Little Fingers, Illustrated by Annie Kubler
Songs: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Hokey Pokey
Rhymes: Learning
Fingerplays: Where is Thumbkin?
My Body: the Actions
It’s helpful for little ones when each laptime begins in the same way. Using the same rhyme or song signals it’s time to start. It works great to bring everyone together and to focus the attention on you and what you’re inviting them to do with you. Open Them, Shut Them is one of my favorite openers for the toddler age group.
After starting with the welcome poem, I like to read the book first. Little ones have the most attention and are the most ready to sit still. After reading the book, I move into the songs, fingerplays and rhymes. I usually alternate between songs and rhymes. Make sure to do each one a few times to help kids learn it and warm up to doing/singing with you.
My Body: the Wrap Up
Once I’m at the end of my program I like to have an enrichment activity that complements the theme. For this theme, I would pull out bean bags and practice putting them on different body parts; i.e., head, knee, toes, elbow, etc. After 5-7 minutes of unstructured play with the bean bags, we clean up and sing our good-bye song, such as A Goodbye Rhyme.
Resources
- Check out other laptime themes and learn more about the Laptime Program on the main Laptime Program page.
- Find Bean Bags on Amazon.
- Find Ten Little Fingers on Amazon.
