Teaching Toddler His Facial Features

There are some great books out there, Peek a Boo Baby is one that comes to mind, and the author Karen Katz. Always cheaper on Amazon.com or Walmart than a regular bookstore :)

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We played a game with a sheet of cheap little stickers. I'd tell them to put a sticker on their nose (or mommy's), etc. If they didn't know, I'd put one on myself and/or them. It gets to be quite funny and my boys loved it!

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Hi L.
Try using a mirror as you explain where the parts are. You can also use a book that has a boy/girl with complete parts that you can point to or you can also use a doll, if you have one. He's 15 months, he'll pick it up pretty soon.

PJ

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Don't make a big deal out of it. Use it in everyday language, such as "let's wipe your nose", or "my nose itches" and scratch it. Or "there's a tear on your cheek" and wipe it off...

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maybe add in fake sneezes with your nose and talk about his nose and sneezing. Also, you could add in smells. You could use flowers, food, perfume, etc and talk about how his 'nose' smells things. Ask him to smell them and say, "do you smell that with your 'nose'?"...then ask him over and over, do you 'see' with your eyes and smell with your 'nose'? Say, "show mommy how you smell? show mommy your nose" :o) have fun! He may be just being silly with you....

thats honestly the best way to do it. we started that with our daughter when she was less than 18 months and and we are now up to arm pits and calfs. not just nose and mouth keep working it will click

My daughter loved the head-shoulders-knees and toes song. She loves music and singing in general but it was a good way to expose her to body parts. She also liked point to the body parts on her stuffed animals and babies. She would point to a body part I named long before she could say any of them but it took a little while for her to get the hang of it. Just keep doing what you're doing, if he's laughing it sounds like a great game!

I would suggest trying this book by Baby Einstein called "Baby da Vinci My Body". The book is about teaching body parts and facial features and my son always loved it. Each page has a mirror on it. It has fun pictures of monkeys that you can first point out the features on them, then show him his features in the mirror. Good luck!

My mom always had this little game we played with all the babies. It goes like this:

"Head-acher, (point to forhead)
eye winker, (point to eyes)
nose dropper, (you get the point now...)
mouth eater,
chin chopper..."
The after 'chin chopper', you go "goochy-goochy-goo!!!!" and tickle the baby under the chin . All the kids would anticipate the laugh and would start smiling and giggling before it came.

Kids learn more more than they express, so i think little things like this help them learn what things are even before they say them.

Good luck!

Hey L.,
When my son (he's 16 months now) first began to really self feed, he'd want to shove everything into his mouth at one time. I'd give him a couple of goldfish and when he'd want more, I'd say, "Let me see what you have in your mouth." It only took a couple times for him to realize what I was asking and he'd open wide and go 'AAHHHH', usually with a whole lot of chewed up food for me to see. When he sneezes, I tell him to cover his nose and I show him how to do that. When he's sleepy and rubs his eyes, I say, 'Sleepy boy is rubbing his eyes and ready for bed.' I've done similar stuff with hands, belly, ears, toes. Honestly, I didn't even realize it was a great teaching tool until I saw how much he was responding and could identify different body parts.
Hope it helps. Good luck!
B.

Fun times! This is such a great age! I taught both of my kids by the example you gave. Also, I let them put their fingers and hands on my face and tell me what they were touching.
Another thing that I LOVED doing with them was kissing various features, like the eyes. I would say, "Mommy's going to kiss your eyes!" Then I'd give noisy fun kisses. Then I'd ask them to kiss my nose. They responded really well to this. It works with all parts of the body and gets lots of giggles. Enjoy this precious time with your little boy. It goes so fast!

Hi L.,
When i was little I had a grandmother who taught me this way.
She would point to each feature of my face.
This is how it goes.

Eye winker...
Nose droper...
Mouth eater...
Chin chopper...
Then you tickle a little under their chin to get them to laugh.
It is so much fun.
You even get started laughing with them.
My grandma is gone.
But she left many things in my mind's room
of learning.
Just some things I can remember.
I have done it to my grandbabies.
And they just love it.

God Bless
vicki

The best method for a child that young is just keep playing with him and repeating the parts. I am a Mom of 5, 11-24, and I don't understand, not pointing fingers, why parents are in such a hurry with their children. He's only 15 months old and learning should be mostly just playing with him and not sweating if he doesn't get it. He will in time, like potty training. Just relax and know that he will get it.

I've seen Mom's stressing because their 3yo's don't recall letters of the alphabet. Let them be kids while they can, just play with him. There may even be some Baby Einstein videos out there to teach that that would be fun. There are most likely some CD's out there with catchy songs that would teach that too.

Enjoy your sweet boy, they grow up so quickly and you'll wish they were little, snuggly & thought you hung the moon!!

What's wrong with pointing and repeating??

My almost 20 month old started doing this just in the last month. So, he may have to hit a mark of developement before it clicks.

I wasn't 'teaching' those to her, she just started doing it. Therefore, I completely contribute it to the books we read. (We read about 3 before nap and night night time each day.) One that made me know this for sure is where she got it, is a book from Pottery Barn Kids that we had registered for... 'Ears, Nose and Toes' maybe? Anyway, it has those but also belly button. Well, I would have never thought to 'teach' her that, but she knows exactly where it is and even says "be-EE-bugh" So it HAD to come from that book. We have several other books, as I am sure you do, that cover parts of the body too. They really pick up on information in books more than we think... and this is coming from an elementary teacher!! Seriously, I know how important it is to read for brain developement, but never imagined she would connect a picture of someone's belly button to hers with out us showing her the connection.
Good luck with your adventure!
Amanda

I used to make a game of it and sing the head shoulders knees and toes song. All my kids (I had 5) loved it and it helped them.