Anatomy

A brain, a bladder, and lots of bones—our human bodies have these organs (and so many more!), but what do your kids and teens know about their location, their parts, and their functions?

Learning human anatomy has implications for how to take care of yourself, how to speak to—or become!—a health care professional, how to understand the characteristics of mammals, and where humans fit into scientific classification.

Anatomy is naturally interesting to younger children, and they are often openly curious about their own bodies and learning to name the body parts they can see. Purposely learning more about anatomy with littles and middles can be a way in to more science learning.

That's because anatomy leads to physiology, which is the study of how the human body works. Learning more about human physiology can lead to curiosity about how it all happens—from more easily observable phenomena like sweating and breathing and feeling pain to the invisible chemical and physical mechanisms at work beneath the skin.

Plus, learning human anatomy and physiology can lead to interest in the characteristics of other animals—and then, how animals and plants differ and what qualities they share. For many homeschoolers, learning broader biology has learning basic human anatomy as its initial foundation or inspiration.

And of course, for teens, Human Anatomy can be a high school science credit!

Homeschool Anatomy Activities

You can supplement your anatomy curriculum with activities from our list, or create your own homeschool anatomy course using these activity ideas and resources.

Always preview apps, videos, and other media for suitability. 

Try these ideas for Homeschool Anatomy for littles and some middles:

• Trace the child's body on paper. This oldie but goodie persists as an activity many kids love. Have your child lie down on large paper (often available in rolls from teacher or office supply stores). Trace an outline of their body. Let them add details by drawing with markers the body parts they can see: eyes, nose, mouth, fingernails, toe nails, belly button, etc. Then, using a book or anatomical guide of your choice, have the kids draw in some of the basic organs, adding more depending on your child's age and interest. Common organs to start with: brain, heart, lungs, stomach, intestines.
• Play human body BINGO with the kids. Make your own BINGO cards with pictures of internal organs or use free printable human body BINGO cards and play BINGO. Kids will learn to recognize the name, the pronunciation, and the appearance of each organ on the card.
• Make an edible model of a human (animal) cell. You and your child can use cake and candy to create a model of a cell and its organelles. There are many ideas for cell models on the internet, including this edible cell model.
• Try an app. Let your kids use an app like the My Body - Anatomy for Kids app for iPad.
• Build a skeleton. Use this free printable from Scholastic and put together a skeleton with your kids, naming the bones as you go.
• Play the "Hokey Pokey." Use the names of bones as you and the kids sing and dance to the familiar song. For example, for the knee, you could sing, "Put your patella in, put your patella out, put your patella in, and shake it all about." We suggest having a skeleton chart handy with the bones labeled!
• Make "Q Tip X-rays." This craft will help younger kids learn the major bones in the arms, legs, feet and hands. Instructions at Learning about the Human Skeleton.
• Watch videos. Younger kids may enjoy this All About Us playlist from SciKids on YouTube.

Try these ideas for Homeschool Anatomy for teens and some middles:

• Use anatomy apps. There are high quality anatomy apps available at the high school, college, and medical school levels. Try High School Anatomy.
• Use Khan Academy. Khan Academy has a 14-unit health and medicine course that includes the anatomy and physiology of all the body systems and their organs.
• Look at cheek cells under the microscope. If you have access to a microscope (ask at your library), consider having kids gather their cheek cells and prepare slides to look at under the microscope. See what parts of the cell you can identify. There is nothing like seeing your own "invisible" cells to realize what you are made of! Carolina Biological Supply is one source to learn how to prepare cheek cell slides. A strand of hair and fingernail clipping are also interesting to view with magnification.
• Include puberty education and/or reproductive system education. Sometimes it's easier for kids to learn about sex education when it is presented as one unit of a human anatomy & physiology study that also includes information about the digestive system, the skeletal system and so on. Context is everything!
• Co-op it. Teach or arrange for an anatomy class as part of your co-op or as a homeschool class.
• Try coloring books. Anatomy coloring books are even used by medical students and can be quite detailed. This one, Human Anatomy Coloring Book from Dover, is a bit simpler and works well for many older kids and teens. Consider sitting and coloring alongside, so you can talk about anatomy as you color!
• Experiment. Try some hands-on demonstrations like these human body labs.
• Watch videos. Crash Course on YouTube has an anatomy course based on an introductory college-level curriculum. The Amoeba Sisters on YouTube also has a playlist on Human Body Systems.

Anatomy Resources