Learning with Mama: Anatomy

From the moment she was born, I was very intentional about always talking to Samantha.  I would explain what I was doing as I went through the motions of an activity.

I was amazed how early she caught on to knowing some of her body parts.  In the bath, she would lift up her legs when I said Ok it's time to wash your leg.  She would do the same on the changing table when I uttered Time to put lotions on your legs.  It filled me with excitement to see the wheels turning as she connected the dots to what I was saying and the action she was performing.

Before long, she could point to all the essentials - feet, arms, legs, belly, head, etc.

I've read/heard that babies learn a lot by touch, which makes sense.  When she was still very little, I made sure we played games where I would engage her physically.  I sang the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and used a hand throughout the song to mimic the spider crawling up Sami, the rain washing it down Sami, the sun coming up above her and drying the rain down Sami, and then the "spider" would crawl back up Sami.  I'm sure that's pretty standard.  I also did a version of the Wheels on the Bus where I would engage her arms.  We'd make circles for the wheels going around.  We'd open and shut the doors with her hands & arms.  We'd have her arms go up & down.  She'd get a gentle belly boop for the horn, and tickles for the vroom of the motor.

We eventually did This Little Piggy when she was older.  It was hard to do it when she was younger because that was my game of choice with Preston and I wanted to keep that unique connection to him and remember his reactions as opposed to hers.

I think all these little games and telling her which parts of her anatomy I was engaging her with helped her get a good grasp of their names.  The repetition through different activities was so helpful and continues to be with a lot of different things she's learning.  I guess the saying is true - practice makes perfect.

When we realized that she knew all the essential body parts, we started adding more like: chin, elbow, knee, eyebrow, etc.  We also started talking to her about the senses: You see with your eyes, you hear with your ears.

I love that our daycare has done sensory activities with Sami (and her classmates) since very early on.  They would make art by dipping their feet in paint, by playing with different textures, and eventually more and more with their hands as they gained more motor control and dexterity.  I'm sure all this reinforced learning certain body parts, and what they are capable of.

I find it fascinating how quickly babies, toddlers and children can pick up on things.  Sami's mind continues to amaze me and probably always will.  And that's one hell of a perk to being a parent.  I'm proud every day.