Skeletons

Book Ideas:

Dem Bones by Bob Barner
“Shoulder bone connected to da neck bone

Neck bone connected to da head bone

Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Dry Bones"
"Colorful torn paper collages bring to life this classic African American spiritual. The frolicking skeletons will captivate children and adults while they sing along with this well-known, catchy song. The song is accompanied by interesting, informative ‘bone facts’.”

The teeny-tiny woman by Paul Galdone
“A ghost story about the teeny-tiny woman who found a teeny-tiny bone in the teeny-tiny church yard.”

The skeleton in the Closet by Alice Schertle

"A boy is scared by a skeleton in his room who is only in search of some clothes to wear."

Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler

"Ghost tries to help Skeleton get rid of the hiccups."

Songs:

The scary Skeleton
(sung to tune of Farmer in the Dell)

I’m a scary skeleton
And look just like you
I sleep and walk, I laugh and talk
And move my body too.

My head is on my shoulders
My neck’s between the two
I’ve got two eyes, a mouth, a nose
And two ears just like you.

I’ve got a bony body
As everybody knows
Two bony legs, two bony feet
And ten small bony toes.

I’ve got two big bony knees
To help me sit or stand
Five bony little fingers
Are on each big bony hand.

Hinges
(from LDS primary song book pg.277)

I’m all made of hinges ‘cause everything bends.
From the top of my neck way down to my ends.
I’m hinges in front, and I’m hinges in back;
But I have to have hinges, or else I would crack!

Skeleton Bones (sung to tune of “Dry Bones”)
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones. Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones.Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones. Oh mercy how they scare!
With the toe bone connected to the foot bone, and the foot bone connected to the ankle bone, and the ankle bone connected to the leg bone.Oh mercy how they scare!
Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones.Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones. Oh mercy how they scare!
With the leg bone connected to the knee bone, and the knee bone connected to the thigh bone, and the thigh bone connected to the hip bone. Oh mercy how they scare!
Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones. Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones. Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones. Oh mercy how they scare!
With the hip bone connected to the back bone, and the back bone connected to the neck bone, and the neck bone connected to the head bone, Oh mercy how they scare!
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones. Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones. Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones. Oh mercy how they scare!
With the finger bone connectedto the hand bone, and the hand bone connected to the arm bone, and the arm bone connected to the shoulder bone, Oh mercy how they scare!
Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones. Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones. Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones. Oh mercy how they scare!
With the shoulder bone connected to the back bone,and the back bone connected to the neck bone, and the neck bone connected to the head bone. Oh mercy how they scare!

Art Project:

Materials Needed:
Materials Needed:
Dark colored construction paper
White computer paper
Black pen
Q-tips
Glue
Scissors

Things to do in advance:

• Draw a simple skull using the pen and white computer paper
• Cut out skull with scissors
• Using scissors, cut a handful of Q-tips in half (leave some full-length)

(An older child could probably do some of these things too)

Step 1: Show child or talk about what a skeleton looks like.

Step 2: Give them piece of dark construction paper, glue, skull cut-out, and pile of large and small Q-tips.

Step 3: Let them glue skull at top of paper.

Step 4: Let child start glueing down the Q-tips as "bones"

Here is my 5 year old's skeleton. She looked at a photo of a skeleton and started gluing, starting with the head, neck and ribs.

Here is my 2 year old's skeleton. I had to talk her through this and help guide her glueing, a little, but she still had fun pushing the q-tips in place on the glue. It's not that important what the skeleton looks like in the end, as long as it's the child's creation. I tried to let them do as much as they could, by themselves. Asking questions and having your child feel their own bones on their arms or counting their own bumpy ribs is a fun way to extend their learning.

Math Learning Activity

You can order various bone shaped candy from orientaltrading.com and then have your child sort the candy into groups: feet, hands, skulls, ribs, etc.. Count how many bones are in each group and record it on a paper. (Sorting, Graphing, & recording their ideas on paper are very important math skills for Pre-schoolers to begin practicing). In order to help your child record their findings, it would be helpful to have a pre-made handout with a picture of each kind of bone down one side of the paper and then a space next to it to record the amounts (your child could use numbers or tally marks, depending on their level. You may have to explain and show them how to do this on your own paper if it is their first time recording amounts. Then they will know how to do this for future counting and charting activities). Then have them circle the group with the most bones and underline the group with the least. Eat the candy when your through counting and recording and use the leftovers to handout to trick-or-treaters on halloween. If you don't want to order the candy you could make paper bones of various bone shapes and put them in a bag for your child to sort and count.