Skeleton model

My younger two children wanted to learn about the human body. We started talking about and modelling the cell and have moved onto the skeleton.

First, we talked about why we have a skeleton. They made a playdough man to demonstrate how difficult it is to stand without support. We put in sticks to act as bones and help the man keep upright.

We also talked about the protective functions of the skeleton and how it contains bone marrow.

Our other objective was to be aware of the proper names of some major bones. OK, I practised as a doctor for many years but in my life as a mother, it has been useful on a couple of occasions to know the proper names for some of the long bones. Whilst I'm not an advocate of doctors speaking so patients can't understand, bones do have names and it is useful for the children to know them. So we made a vegetable model skeleton.

I first saw something a bit like this on Pinterest although this wasn't really for educational purposes.

Anyway, we went ahead and made our own vegetable skeleton.

OK, he isn't perfect-not by a long chalk. For starters ,he only has four pairs of ribs and nothing beyond his radius and ulnar in his arms and beyond his tibia and fibula in his legs.

From a bony point of view, he has

• skull-brocoli
• spine-mushroom stalks
• pelvis-mushrooms
• clavicle-apple
• humerus-carrot
• femur-carrot
• radius and ulna-carrot
• tibia and fibula-carrot
• ribs-green pepper. 

Do the children know the names of the bones? Maybe not all but they are familiar terms now and they certainly enjoyed themselves. Skeleton man has now been eaten!

Thinking about teeth

In view of an upcoming dentist visit, we decided to have a look at teeth.

First, we counted and yes, Miss Belle has three more teeth than her brother who is two years younger.

Then we talked about the sorts of drinks that might or might not be good for teeth. Using egg shell as a surrogate for teeth, we put pieces of egg shell into jars of milk, water and coco cola (the proper stuff-none of this diet or zero stuff). We hope to see what will happen over the next few days.

We made models of the three different types of teeth

• incisors, at the front, for biting
• pointy canines for tearing
• large flat molars for chewing

We used pieces of egg carton as jaw and glued on foil shapes for each type of tooth. In case of doubt, from the left, molar, incisor and canine.

At bedtime, after the tooth cleaning, the children used disclosing tablets to see how effective their cleaning had been. I must say, disclosing tablets are quite messy with little ones. I did double check the packet to see if there was a label saying "not for use under x years" but no. From experience now, I don't really think they are suitable for under fives although using them with a five year old worked. 

The good side effect has been the increased interest in tooth brushing; hope it lasts!