The Bone Game

This game is as simple as it gets. We've been teaching our three year old daughter the scientific name for each bone in the body. Why wait until 5th grade? Last summer she was swinging on the swing and said, "Daddy, I'm swinging as high as your cranium!"

For those who want a refresher, here is a link to Wikipedia's page on the human skeleton.

Favorite bones seem to be: cranium, mandible, sternum, xiphoid process, vertebrae, phalanges, clavicles, femurs, tibias, patellas, and pelvis.

It really helps to print out a picture of the skeleton and put it up on a wall, or to look at one on the computer. It also really helps (and makes it fun for a three year old) to grab the part of the body as you go through the bones and either shake or squeeze or play with it. I love latching onto my daughter's clavicles and tickling her.

We've also instituted bone day in our house. Lying in bed at night or in the morning my daughter decides what bone day it is today (patella day, cranium day, clavicle day, etc.) and what bone day it will be tomorrow. We don't do anything special each day besides simply talk about it being cranium day day today or talk about the fact that it was patella day yesterday, as we grab and tickle the appropriate bone. The bone day mainly serves as a conversation piece, to give us reason to repeat a given bone several times throughout the day, whenever we think of it, to help solidify the names of each bone.

After your daughter or son has mastered the bones, move on to the muscles of the human body.