Skeleton Craft for Preschool

This skeleton craft is not about making something cute for Halloween, it’s about practicing skills in a fun way. Specifically scissor skills. Next week my students and I will be learning more about skeletons and our bodies. I’ll be using my light table to show them x-rays over zoom and we will be reading books like Dem Bones by Bob Barner and using their enthusiasm for Halloween to learn a little more about the human body. This scissor skills activity is just one more way to add to that while working on skills and is flexible enough for my younger students in my multi-age class to play with, color, and glue if they aren’t ready for scissor practice yet.

Gather your materials. You will need a good illustration of a skeleton, this is a photocopy of a toy from my classroom, specifically this human body puzzle I love. I’d offer it as a printable but I have no clue what the copyright laws are for that and wouldn’t want to violate them, but you can find great skeleton images on Canva.com. You will also need some crayons, kid scissors, glue, and some black cardstock.

Cut around the skeleton so it’s a smaller sheet of paper for your student to manipulate.

Next, have your child/ student color their skeleton. I am not a fan of busy work coloring but it is great practice for eventual handwriting. Stress creativity over staying in the lines.

Time to cut. Explain to your student that they get to cut the skeleton into different body parts. They can cut their skeleton into as many or as few parts as they want, but encourage the student to do the cutting. The next step is to glue it back together so it doesn’t have to be perfect!

Mix the pieces up and glue them back together!

Now you may have a student who wants to glue the head on the leg and the leg on the arm… awesome! Being silly is creative and we need creative people in this world.

Let dry.

Here are more learning ideas to go with this skeleton craft

 

Skeletons At The Science Center

I love my light tablet, it’s so lightweight I can hold it up and use it for zoom classes. It’s also durable enough for free choice time!

My Favorite Human Body Puzzle

 

Melissa & Doug Magnetic Human Body Play Set – We have a bunch of Melissa and Doug magnetic dolls, but this human body one is awesomely educational. What a fun way to learn about the human body. And yes, that is the skeleton I photocopied for this activity.

 

Skeleton Sensory Tray

 

 

Great Skeleton Books for Preschool

Dem Bones by Bob Barner is sort of two books in one. The superficial layer uses the words of the ever-popular old-time spiritual with fun Halloween inspired skeleton illustrations. There is also a second layer that has longer text for older children that goes into the anatomy of the bones the song sings about. Great way to keep a Halloween theme strong while teaching about the human body!

Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler is a silly book about a skeleton who can not get rid of the hiccups. He tries all the old tricks, which probably won’t be old to your kids. This is so much fun to read at circle time and ask your students what trick their family uses to get rid of hiccups. The story is simple and while adults may find it predictable, kids find it silly and fun, and that is what matters.

 

For more Halloween Ideas check out our Halloween Thematic Unit