What You Need:

Pictures or Drawings of Body Parts on pieces of paper.

Print out these body part flashcards at ESL-Kids.com. or make your own by drawing simple pictures of body parts on pieces of paper.

Body Pretzels Game Set Up

1. Divide the flash cards into two piles - one pile for upper body parts (finger, hand, face, ear, shoulder, nose, eye, elbow, neck, teeth, lips, tongue, etc.) and another pile for lower body parts (ankle, leg, knee, toe, hip, etc.).

Include the belly button and back in the lower body part pile and the tummy in the upper body part pile.

2. Shuffle the piles and turn them face down.

How to Play Body Pretzels

1. Choose two cards - A preschooler chooses one body part card from each pile and shows them to the group.

2. Make a Guess - The preschooler makes a guess as to whether they think they can touch the two body parts together.

3. Body Pretzel Time - The preschoolers try to touch the two body parts together.

4. Was Your Guess Correct? - Ask preschoolers if their guess was correct

5. Repeat Steps 1, 2 and 3 - Go through the steps again choosing different cards. For an group game, preschoolers take turns choosing the cards.

Support Activities

Serve Pretzels - Twisted pretzels are a a great snack to serve or make before or after playing Body Pretzels.

Read a Book - Read a book about pretzels before or after this activity.

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Helpful Tips for Parents

• Physical fitness in preschool predicts academic performance in elementary school. The brain-body connection is direct: active children concentrate better and learn more effectively.

• Water play (pools, sprinklers, water tables) is among the most physically intensive activities available — children move constantly and use their whole body without realizing they're exercising.

• Playground equipment (climbers, swings, slides) develops specific physical capabilities — vestibular (swinging), proprioceptive (climbing), and strength (monkey bars). Time on playground equipment is irreplaceable.

• Set up permanent physical activity invitations in the backyard or play area: a balance beam, stepping stones, a low climbing structure, a tire swing. Permanent setups encourage daily use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is yoga appropriate for preschoolers?

Preschool yoga is not only appropriate but genuinely beneficial — it develops balance, strength, flexibility, and body awareness. More importantly, it teaches preschoolers the foundational self-regulation skills of breath awareness and still-body practice. Children's yoga programs (Cosmic Kids Yoga on YouTube is a popular free resource) frame poses as animals and characters, making the practice engaging. 10–15 minutes of child-appropriate yoga is appropriate daily from age 3.

What are warning signs that a preschooler is not developing physical skills appropriately?

Consult your pediatrician if, at age 4, your preschooler cannot: jump with both feet off the ground, hop on one foot, catch a large ball with two hands, walk up and down stairs alternating feet, or run without frequent falling. Significant delays in gross motor development may indicate developmental coordination disorder, hypotonia, neurological factors, or other conditions that benefit from early physical therapy intervention. Earlier evaluation is always better — waiting to see if the child catches up delays potentially helpful intervention.

Related reading: See also our swimming and water safety guide and our indoor gross motor activities for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 🧭 Spatial Awareness — Moving through and around obstacles, understanding where their body is in space, and following directional instructions develops the spatial body awareness that sports, dance, and coordinated movement require.
• 🎵 Rhythm & Timing — Moving to a beat, keeping rhythm in marching or clapping, and coordinating movement to music develops the temporal processing that underlies both musical ability and the phonological timing needed for reading.
• 🏅 Physical Confidence — Successfully completing a physical challenge — climbing something scary, jumping a gap, learning a new skill — builds physical self-efficacy: the belief that effort leads to capability, which transfers to all learning domains.
• ⚖️ Balance & Coordination — Activities that challenge balance — hopping on one foot, walking a line, navigating obstacles — develop the vestibular and proprioceptive systems that underlie all coordinated physical movement.

by Kelly Pfeiffer

How flexible is the human body? Can it twist like a pretzel? This simple game allows preschoolers to make predictions about the human body's flexibility then try out their guesses to see if they are correct.

Preschoolers will practice a variety of cognitive and physical skills in this twisted fitness game called Body Pretzels. For a group or individual game, Body Pretzels increases flexibility, teaches naming of body parts and introduces children to the scientific process of making predictions and testing out their guesses.