Teaching Elementary Students about the Human Body

 

Are you looking for ideas on how to discreetly teach your elementary homeschool student about the human body? This doesn’t have to be a yucky experience, it can actually be fun and exciting. I found some pretty awesome ideas the past few years how to demonstrate what the human body is like. It has been a hit ever since.

One of the experiences included a life size model (children’s play area) at a local health center. I didn’t even know it was there all these years. Check with all your local hospitals and health centers to see if they have something pertaining to the human body and kids. You might be surprised.

To learn about blood cells and what blood is made of, I came across a really fun hands ­on  demonstration which illustrates what blood is made of. All you need is a large plastic container, red beads, ping­pong balls, water, and red craft foam. You can get all of these for cheap on Amazon or at local craft stores and hobby shops. Visit here for complete directions and how to properly execute this activity.

This next idea was a favorite with my elementary student; making a life size body map art project. I thought this was absolutely clever and can’t wait to use the idea again with my next elementary homeschooler. All you need to start is big pieces brown contractor’s paper; big enough to trace a child’s body onto. Click here for full details on supplies to make this extraordinary craft.

Are you currently teaching your elementary student about the heart? You will love this concept. How does the heart work anyways? Drill a hole into a tennis ball and dunk into a bucket of water. Once the ball is full of water, pretty much waterlogged, pump it with your fist. Make sure the hole is facing upwards. It’s from this demonstration you can teach your child that each time your heart sqeezes, blood (like the water), is pushed out of the heart……I got this idea from Kids Activities Blog. Check out full details of this demonstration here.

Are your kids curious about their skeleton? Make a model of your skeleton with X­Ray Playdough. This is very easy, but gets the point across. All you need is black playdough (Black food coloring), Q­Tips, pictures of skulls (laminated), and outlet covers. Have your child flatten the playdough as wide and as flat as they wish. Have them stick on the outlet cover, then the skull on top of it. Start making the bones out of the Q­Tips and presto! Your very own X­Ray. Check out a picture of this activity.