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    Home » Early Years Science » Skeleton Activities – Healthy Bones

    Skeleton Activities – Healthy Bones

    June 18, 2021 By Emma Vanstone 1 Comment

    What do you think your body would be like without bones? It’d be all wobbly like jelly. The skeleton acts like scaffolding holding up our soft tissues. This collection of skeleton activities is great for learning about the structure and function of the skeleton and how to maintain healthy bones!

    Skeleton Activities for Kids

    Did you know the Human skeleton is made up of more than 200 bones?

    labelled skeleton diagram
    Skeleton Diagram

    What are the function of the skeleton?

    • It supports the body.
    • It protects delicate organs, for example the ribcage protect the lungs and heart and the skull protects the brain.
    • It helps the body move, along with muscles. Muscles are attached to bones, when muscles contract and relax the bones move.

    Can you bend your fingers and feel the finger joins with your other hand?

    Muscles help our bones move. If you bend your arm and clench your fist, can you see the shape of the muscle in your upper arm?

    How to make sure you have healthy bones

    Eat the right foods for bone health

    Bones need two key nutrients to stay healthy: Calcium and  Vitamin D.

    We take in calcium through our diet, good sources of calcium include:

    • Milk, cheese and other dairy products
    • Spinach
    • Sardines
    • Nuts
    • Leafy green vegetables
    • Fortified cereals

    Vitamin D helps our bodies absorb calcium, Vitamin D is mostly made under the skin in reaction to sunlight, but is also found in foods such as eggs and oily fish.

    Exercise

    Exercise helps make bones stronger by increasing bone density, as well as improving muscle strength, and coordination.

    Did you know bone density keeps increasing into the mid 20s?

    Bone Activities for little people

    Doctor Role Play

    As a fun way to learn about bones we set up a doctor role play area.

    I printed out some X-rays, and bought modroc to make plaster casts inspired by The Imagination Tree. See Anna’s post for full instructions.

     a doll at next to a roll of modroc - ready to have a plaster cast applied
    Doll and plaster cast

    We talked about how X-rays are needed to see whether bones are fractured or not and how a plaster cast is used to hold broken bones correctly in place until they are healed.

    An X-Ray is a type of radiation which passes straight through the human body. Dense areas such as bone show up lighter than softer areas.

    My girls loved putting the casts on their dolls and it led to some great independent role play as they discussed how to make an arm sling for one doll and a wheelchair for another.

    modroc used to make a plaster cast for a doll. A great doctor role play activity idea.
    a doll with a plaster cast on its leg
    Modroc plaster casts on a doll

    I made an easy light box, using a string of battery powered lights in a plastic box for us to view X-rays on which added another fun angle to our play, and really helped my girls visualise the inside of their hands and feet.

    lightbox used to view an x-ray for a doctor role play game
    DIY light box for X-rays

    More science ideas for little ones

    Try these fun doctor role play ideas. Including making a stethoscope.

    Have a go at one of my human body science ideas for preschoolers.


    Skeleton Activities for Primary School

    Make models of the spine ( some edible ) and use paper to find out how strong bones are!

    Spine and nerve root model
    Close-up view of nerve root exiting from intervertebral foramen of lumbar spine model
    how strong is paper experiment using paper columns in different shapes
    Paper columns for learning about strong bones

    Another idea is to make a bendy bone. To so this you just need to soak a chicken bone in vinegar for a few days.

    Image of bones made bendy by placing in vinegar and Gross Science book
    Bendy Bones – Image taken from Gross Science

    Suitable for:

    Key Stage 1 Science

    Animals, including Humans

    Identify name, draw and label basic parts of the Human Body.

    Describe the importance for humans of exercise, eating the right amounts of different types of food, and hygiene.

    Key Stage 3

    Human Organ Systemsw

    Early Years Foundation Stage

    Physical Development → Health and self-care → ELG

    • Children know the importance for good health of physical exercise, and a healthy diet, and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe. They manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs successfully, including dressing and going to the toilet independently.
    Collage of easy skeleton activities for kids. Plaster cats on dolls, bendy bones and spine models.
    Skeleton Activities for Kids

    Last Updated on June 25, 2021 by Emma Vanstone

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    Safety Notice

    Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

    These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Margie

      April 27, 2015 at 11:23 pm

      Nice post. I didn’t know that sardines had calcium. That’s a good one, definitely learned something today.I thought that calcium was mostly in cheeses and milk.

      Reply

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