Thursday, August 13, 2015

Projects: How about Anatomy Academy? Start with tots.

Do you have a large family?  Would you like an idea for your Co-op group?  Consider Anatomy Academy.  I have anatomy on the brain because I'm planning next summer's science camp.  My 'go to'  resources for an anatomy camp all have loads of hands-on activities.  Let's start with a bunch of fun resources for your children.  Your older children can help prep.  Borrow The Magic School Bus Ride Inside the Human Body book and video from the library to read and watch together.

Next up are the five senses.  Start with mapping the tongue.  Draw a giant tongue for kids to mark as sweet, bitter, sour, or salty.  Save their drawings for your portfolio.  Try animal ears on for size.  Now your ear can hear, my dear.  Test several sized paper and stryrofoam cups in different sizes.  If you are feeling ambitious, make a chart.  In fact, you may want to extend sounds to include telephones, like this experiment from the Exploratorium.  The older kids can assemble the sound matching toy and the     smelling bottles.  (Teens will include imaginative odors.  How about dirty socks?). One more sensory idea: a touch bag.  Ask your older kids to locate some toys or familiar food for the bag.

Since our target audience is young, let's include Adorable Wearables.  Your teens can make copies and cut them out for the tots.  I would try the 'chest vest' with the organs, first.  Everyone can color together.  Print color copies of the brain hemisphere hat on card stock.  Adorable Wearables has a black and white brain hat, too.  Martha Stewart's Pasta Sleletons or Q-tip skeletons, if you're off carbs are a fun way to learn about the skeletal system.  Amazon has compiled a 100 children's anatomy books to locate in the library for more ideas!

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