Everybody has a Body by Jon Burgerman and published by Oxford University Press is a fun book to read with bright colours and lots of different pictures to look at. The story is about everybody being different and that is okay. It is about being proud of who you are and celebrating individuality. The book is lovely to read and my son loves looking at all the different pictures.
Activities
Copy one of the bodies in the book
Draw or list different things their body is good at
Paint a body
Make playdough bodies
People's strengths discussion
Positive body image discussion
Positive body poster
A trip to the park or activity to use their body in different ways
Assault course activity
Yoga
Gingerbread men
Experiment with healthy meals/desserts/snacks
Plant and grow some fruits and vegetables
Indoor
There are so many different bodies in the book so your child/children could choose one and have a go at copying it. They could then draw the body they chose doing different things that it is good at or just list them. They could then draw themselves and list or draw the things that they are good at. This is a good time to have a conversation about people having different strengths and how they can be used, especially when partaking in teamwork. If they don't want to draw then the pictures are bright and colourful so you could get them to use paint. If they struggle to think of positive things then stand them in front of a mirror and encourage them to tell you what they like. Another fun activity could be to make some different bodies using playdough. If you don't have any to hand then there are some recipes online. The one I use is 1 cup of salt, 1 cup of water with food colouring in and 2 cups of flour. Mix it together and you have playdough. You might want to make a few different colours and if you want to keep it then just store it in the fridge and it will last for a few days. You could always add glitter to your playdough to give it some sparkle. If it gets a bit sticky add a bit more flour or if it gets a bit dry add a tiny bit more water. You could have a discussion about focussing on positive body images rather than negative and with older children you could talk about social media and how people can be unkind sometimes and that this is not okay. Words still hurt whether they are spoken or written so they should be mindful of that. A final fun indoor activity could be making a positive body poster to hang in the house to remind everyone that they are different and wonderful. Your child/children can be as creative as they want with this and they could use photos, pictures and drawings to show how we are all unique and brilliant. You could show them some videos of people who have adapted their bodies to do different things. Some of these could be people with disabilities or it could be people who have done amazing things because they wanted to.
Outdoor
Our bodies like to be out and about so you could go to the park with your child/children or do something new or different where they use their bodies in different ways like going to a climbing wall activity centre or go swimming. Another fun outdoor activity could be to set up an assault course and then if you have more than one child you could get them to decide amongst themselves who is going to do each part of the assault course dependant on strengths. don't forget to encourage them to praise each other for how well they used their bodies and discuss how they used their strengths. A final outdoor activity could be to follow along with an easy yoga routine in the garden. This will get you all some fresh air and its good fun (if it's too cold or you don't have the space outdoors then you could move this activity inside).
Food/Cooking
For something sweet you could make some gingerbread men and design their bodies in different ways using different sweets, chocolates and different coloured icing. Your body needs healthy things to eat too so you could look for some different meals/cakes/snacks that you haven't tried before that are healthier than you would normally choose and you could have a go at making them together. You could then rate them out of 10 for how healthy they are, how tasty they are and if you would make them again. A final food/cooking activity could be to plant some different fruits and vegetables with your child/children and then they can look after them and enjoy eating them when they have grown. If you don't have a garden or room then there are plenty of things that you can grow indoors.
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