Life Size Body Map

Now that the holidays are officially over (sniff, sniff, sob) it's time for us to switch focus from crafts, baking and gifts to school projects and home projects.

Today the boys and I did these Life Sized Body Maps for school.  The 9 year old really enjoyed this activity and, after initially saying he only wanted to draw on his organs and keep it simple, he got into being creative and was really interested in the different organs and how they functioned and why they were important.  The 6 year old was only semi-interested.  He, of course, thought the function of the large intestine was hilarious and he was also quite intrigued by the bladder.  I helped him find where his own bladder was by pushing gently in the area to give him the sensation of having to go to the bathroom and he had a major bout of giggling when I told him how he and his brothers used to use mine as a punching bag when they were in my tummy.  Boys! ; )

The 3 year old wanted his body traced and then drew all of his "organs" on his own...look Mama, my belly button!

I helped the 6 year old with the arm and leg bones, and we talked about what they were called, and also helped him with the bones in the hand and a bit with the large and small intestine but he took care of the heart, liver, stomach and bladder.  He's excited to show his dad and said, "I bet Daddy will be really impressed by this!"

The 3 year old was being helpful and telling him, "There's your stomach and your heart and your liver!"  We'll work  on it more with him. ; )

The 9 year old did everything himself, with a little help on the bones from me while he was gluing his finger bones (otherwise known as carpals, metacarpals, and phalanges!).  He also was very particular about using a sparkly crayon for his brain.  When one of the packing bag thingies we used for the lungs had a hole in it, we talked about punctured lungs and how our ribs protect our lungs.

This was a fun, hands on way to learn a bit more about where our organs are located in our body and how they work and what their functions are.  It inspired more creativity in the kids as well.  After we were done with the insides of our body, they wanted to be traced again and drew the outsides, complete with costumes!