| ACTIVITY | | You Are What You Eat | |
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| By the time they reach school, children can begin to understand the inside of the body as well as the outside. This activity teaches labeling of major body parts and introduces the working of the stomach. |
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 Read an introductory book about the human body. Suggestions include The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body by Joanna Cole or What Happens to a Hamburger by Paul Showers.
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1. Have the children pair up. One child should lie on the butcher paper while the other traces around him.
2. Together the students should fill in major body parts. Not just the knees, elbows, or hair - but also the heart, lungs, and stomach. Help students label these correctly.
3. Talk about what happens to food after we swallow it. Where does it go?
4. Give each child a zip-lock bag. Tell them at lunch today they are to put a tiny bit of everything they eat or drink into the bag. This can be gross, but the kids love it.
5. Seal the bags and tape onto the paper bodies.
6. At the end of the day, look at the food again. Talk with the students about how the stomach works to mix up the food and turn it into energy for the body. Tell them special liquids called enzymes help break it into teeny tiny pieces, much smaller than what they can see here.
7. Don't forget to throw out the bags at the end of the day. Ick! |
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| You can combine this with information about what foods are healthy for the body, and what foods should be limited. |
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