Parts of the Body in English: Names, Pronunciation and Plurals

Practice on screen

Look at the picture or number and choose the right English word. Ten questions each round.

How to teach it

1. 1. Touch your head

   Say the instruction and let the child do it: "Touch your nose. Touch your knees." Speed up slowly. Then the child gives the instructions and you do them, sometimes by mistake, so the child can correct you. This is a classic game for good reason.

2. 2. Head, shoulders, knees and toes

   Sing the song with the actions and go a little faster each time. The song repeats the same words and the child touches each part, which links the word, the movement and the body. Leave out a word and let the child sing it.

3. 3. Draw a person or a monster

   Ask the child to draw a person and label the parts, or to listen and draw a monster: "It has one big eye, three arms and four legs." Check the picture together and count the parts in English.

4. 4. Trace and label the body

   Lay a child on a big sheet of paper and trace the outline. Then the child labels the parts with sticky notes: head, arm, leg, foot. You can use the finished picture on the wall as a reference during the week.

5. 5. Body sort: how many?

   Ask questions about numbers: "How many eyes do you have? How many fingers?" The child answers with a full sentence: "I have two eyes." Learners hear and say the plurals feet, teeth and hands alongside the numbers.

6. 6. Mirror game

   Stand opposite each other. One child touches a body part and says the word, and the other copies and says it. Swap the leader. Add a describing word, such as big, small or long, when the child is ready.

Common mistakes

• Saying "foots" and "tooths"

  The plural of foot is feet and the plural of tooth is teeth. Say "one foot, two feet" and "one tooth, two teeth". Show the child their own feet and ask "How many feet?" until the form feels natural.

• Saying "hairs" for a head of hair

  Hair is not counted when we talk about the hair on a head: "She has long hair." We do not add -s or say "a hair". A single strand is called "a hair", but this is a rare use at this age.

• Using the instead of my or your

  Use my, your, his or her with body parts: "I wash my hands", "Touch your nose." Learners often say "I wash the hands". Practice with a pattern: "This is my nose. This is your nose."

• Missing the verb have for body parts

  To say how many we have, use have: "I have two eyes." Do not say "I am two eyes" or "I two eyes". For someone else, use has: "She has two ears."

• Mixing up its spelling and sound

  Some body words are not spelled as they sound: thumb has a silent b, stomach is said "STUM-uk", and knee has a silent k. Say the word and then write it, pointing out the silent letter.