Little Words

Chant Early concept · body parts

Head to Toes

Pair every word with a movement, so the body remembers what the mouth is saying.

9 lines7 turns for your child98 beats a minute4 tappable picture words

All the words

Print this, or read it yourself. The blank lines are the point: that is where you stop and wait.

  1. Buddy saysStand up tall. Let's find all our parts!
  2. Buddy chantsHead to toes. Head to toes.
  3. your childSay toes — four beats of quiet
  4. Buddy chantsHead to toes. Head to toes.
  5. your childYour turn — four beats of quiet
  6. Buddy chantsTouch your nose. Boop, boop, boop!
  7. your childSay nose — four beats of quiet
  8. Buddy chantsHead to toes. Head to toes.
  9. your childYour turn — four beats of quiet
  10. Buddy chantsBend your knee. Up and down!
  11. your childSay knee — four beats of quiet
  12. Buddy chantsPat your hair. Soft and neat.
  13. your childSay hair — four beats of quiet
  14. Buddy chantsNose, knee, hair, toes!
  15. your childOne more time — four beats of quiet
  16. Buddy saysYou found every single one. What a clever body!

Why a chant and not a song

Buddy’s voice here is her real recorded voice — the same one she uses everywhere else in Little Words. She chants rather than sings, on a steady beat, over a music-box tune. That is a deliberate choice: a rhythmic, slowed, highly predictable pattern is what lets a child anticipate what is coming and arrive on it, and a synthetic singing voice would have cost us the one thing that makes Buddy feel like a friend.

Pair every word with a movement, so the body remembers what the mouth is saying.

  • The gap is the work. Buddy chants a line, then stops for four beats. In “Buddy and me” that gap stays silent — no filler, no rush — so the turn genuinely belongs to your child.
  • Repetition is the feature. Repeat is on by default. Most children need many passes before they join in, and the second or third time round is usually when it happens.
  • Slower on request. The turtle button drops the tempo and swaps in a bed recorded at that slower tempo, so the beat is still a real beat to move to.
  • Nothing is marked right or wrong. Buddy reacts warmly to anything she hears and says nothing at all about a quiet turn. Listening is taking part.