ESL for Primary School/Body parts

"Guess Who"
Prepare flash cards with large drawings or print-outs of different looking people. Attach the drawings to the board. You describe one of the people, and the students have to guess who you're talking about. As a more advanced version, have the students take turns describing someone while the other students guess.

Nose, nose, nose
This game involves learning the names of body parts. For example, mouth, nose, eyes, ears, head, hands. Start the game by tapping your nose as you say, “Nose, nose, nose…”. The students should follow and tap their nose likewise as they say, “nose, nose, nose” along with you. Then say a body part, for example, “mouth” but point at a different part, like your head. The students should recognise the word “mouth” and should point to their mouth even if you are not. Students who can’t are eliminated and must sit down. Repeat.

The Monster Game
Describe a monster and get the students to draw what you describe. (Eg. My monster has five eyes. My monster has blue hair. etc.) Each monster will be different and the kids will enjoy showing each other their monsters. You can get them to show off their monsters in front of the class, while describing a few things about them in English.

Head and Shoulders. Knees and Toes
Sing the song, with the motions.

Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes Eyes, Ears, Mouth and Nose.

To make it more difficult, you could eliminate students who make a mistake. Or else, you could drop one word at a time, so that you only make the motion, but don't say the word. If a student says the word, they're out. For example, the first word eliminated is 'head', so the first line goes: "* and Shoulders, Knees and Toes," where * is only the motion and not the word.

To make it more interesting you can start the song very slowly doing the moves like a zombie. Then you shout 'fast' and 'faster' to keep picking up the speed with every round. then back to 'zombie' to slow down. Not only do children have more fun role-playing zombies at one end and doing the moves lightning fast at the other end, but it also is essential for the correct learning of each word separately (sometimes kids think that 'kneesan' is a single word), as well as introducing the word 'fast' and the comparative 'faster'.

Simon Says
You know the game. Use it to practice the body parts. The kids never get tired of it and you can always introduce more and more difficult commands. To practice the body parts say "Simon says show me your nose", or "Simon says touch your nose". After students have played a round or two of the game with the teacher giving commands, ask if a student would like to volunteer to take the teacher's place and give the commands. There are usually several volunteers and students really enjoy telling their classmates what to do. Acting as leader also challenges students who have mastered the targeted vocabulary.

You can also use "Teacher Says" instead of "Simon says".