Organs in the spotlight

During our week of organ study, we put together a puppet show for the kids, in which organs were arguing about which one was more important. You can download the script here.

 

I was very lucky to "inherit" this puppet show theater that was made by my very dear friend Amy. It is just a very simple piece of dark fabric that has a square opening closer to the top. There is a velvet fabric that is used for a curtain in the square opening. It all hangs on a shower curtain rod, which you can adjust to any doorway size. There is a large Home Depot wooden ruler sown into the middle of the theater so that it holds nice and straight.

 

The kids got complementary drink of water from the kidneys, who reminded them how important it is for them to drink plenty of water.

 

Say hello to our famous cast. This was a big hit with the kids... and the adults had fun preparing it ;-)

Label the muscle man

This activity goes under our Human Body study. The second week was all about muscles. We gave the kids a picture of muscle man and had them cut out the labels for different muscles.

 

Then they had to glue it to the line that points to the right muscle.

Painting life size "me"

At the beginning of our Human Body unit, we had the kids paint themselves in real size in order to show us how much they know about their bodies. This is what we did:

First we had them lay down on a piece of rolled out paper that is intended for easels. That gave us enough space to trace their body using black washable marker.

We ended up with somewhat accurate outline of a person.

Then we had them color themselves in, using paint. We had them first think about what they might be wearing and what colors they liked.

 

When they finished, we had them name different parts of their body. This was a little recap of last year's Human Body study for the big kids and a pre-test for the little kids in preschool. 

 

Fun characters we ended up with, right? Love the smile :-)

 

It was a bit tough to exhibit their art because of the size, but they had tons of fun making something so "huge" for a change. :-)

How muscles work

How do muscles help us move? They are attached to our bones by tough, cord-like tissues called tendons, which allow the muscles to pull on bones. We wanted to show the kids how this relationship works and here is how:

You will need:
2 paper towel tubes (bones)
rubber band (tendon)
tennis ball or styrofoam ball (joint)

First punch one hole close to the edge of each tube using hole puncher. Cut your rubber band in half and and tie each end to each hole.

 

 Then insert the ball (which serves as a joint) between the tubes just like this...

 

and close it up like that...

 

Now I simulated the movement by sliding the tubes on the ball, which caused the rubber band to expand. This will help you explain how the muscles move the arm (in this case) by contracting and relaxing.

 

Have the kids copy the movement with their elbow and have them feel the movement that happens on the inside!

 

This is how it should look.It is really a great way to show kindergartners and in our case also preschoolers what really happens when they use their arms and legs!