Circulatory System Board

Part of our Anatomy Series--The Circulatory System Board. Follow the pathways to and from the heart. Use this as a way to learn about different parts of the circulatory system by tracing it, labeling it, discussing how blood cells carry oxygen and nutrients to different parts of the body and return to the heart carrying carbon dioxide and waste away from the organs and back to the heart.

Board comes with a tracing stick and an assortment of wood and wool balls (as shown in the first photo). Does not include the flags. The other photos are inspiration for crafty ideas you can make to accompany the board. I'll include a PDF for some flags and coloring/writing pages to offer some ideas for playing and learning. 

What can you do with this board?

* Trace - Talk about each part of circulation while tracing the pathways. Arrows in the grooves help direct the proper flow through the body from leaving the heart in the arteries and returning to the heart in the veins.

* Discuss - Research and discuss what each part of the circulatory system is for as well as the different things that happen during circulation such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, nutrients and waste removal, and what blood is made of and the different kinds of blood cells.

* Label - Create flags by gluing paper strips to toothpicks and using clay/play dough/beeswax/sticky tack to hold them upright on the board. Use the flags to either name each part of the body or describe it. Allowing the children to write the words or descriptions is a wonderful writing assignment and helps them remember the information even better.

* Mold - Use clay/play dough/beeswax to mold blood cells or line the arteries and veins in red and blue. Also use pipe cleaners or yarn to "color" the pathways either red or blue if it's a vein or artery.

* Play - Use the red and blue wool balls to show the difference between oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood cells. Use the white for white blood cells, the green as infection or germs, and the purple as medicine. My son came up with a game using all of these wool balls and how a wound might allow a germ into the body that the white blood cells attack and herbs/medicine come to help as well. 

Parts of the body featured on the board: heart, lungs, veins, arteries, capillaries, and a couple of organs. You can get more specific by marking the superior and inferior vena cava, the aorta, and such. 

I am not a doctor, so this is my best interpretation of the circulatory system and presenting your children with a hands on way of learning about the human body.

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DETAILS:

Includes tracing stick, 5 wood 1/2-inch balls, and 3 of each color red, blue, green, white, and purple wool balls. Made from maple hardwood and polished with natural oil. Measures 9.5x15.75 inches. Wood is 0.5 inch thick and weighs 1.5 pounds.

An original “From Jennifer” design.