Bones have so many functions. For example, they protect our vital organs like our brain and heart, and they form the shape of our face.
What would happen if we don’t have bones? How will our bodies support their weight?
In this Play-Doh skeleton activity, we are going to explore just how important our bones are. It’s a fun way to show your kids why the skeletal system is critical in the human body.
Skeleton Play-Doh Activity
Materials:
Instructions:
1. Form two identical sets of body parts with Play-Doh. We used two different colors so we can tell easily which one has bones.
2. Using the toothpicks as bones, assemble one of the Play-Doh people by inserting toothpicks to connect the body parts. You may need to cut the toothpicks if they are too long.
3. Stand the Play-Doh person up. You can tell that with the toothpicks supporting the body parts, this Play-Doh person is solid and can stand up tall.
4. Try and connect the body parts of the other Play-Doh person without toothpicks.
5. Try and stand the Play-Doh person without bones up. Is it possible?
6. Discuss the role of the toothpicks in supporting the Play-Doh human body.
We haven’t played with Play-Doh in forever, so it was super fun for the kids to use it for this STEM activity. They loved trying to pose the Play-Doh body with bones in different ways. It was dancing, stretching, and even doing a split. But they got the point of the activity – with bones supporting the weight of our body, we could do different activities and stand strong.
The boneless Play-Doh body was hilarious to play with. The head and limbs kept falling off no matter how much we tried to stick them to the body. In order to get it to stand up by itself, we had to really squish it down and make a firm base. But even then it kept losing its body parts!
By placing the two Play-Doh bodies next to each other, you can really tell the difference a skeletal system makes. The one with bones was able to stand without us pressing it to the table. The boneless body, unfortunately, ended up short and stumpy.
This Play-Doh skeleton activity really illustrates the importance of bones in supporting our bodies. It also shows us that without joints to connect our body parts, it would be really difficult for us to keep our arms and legs from falling off. Yay bones!
Conclusion
Can you imagine what our bodies would be like without bones? This Play-Doh skeleton activity doesn’t even do it justice! We would literally be just shapeless blob of tissue. EW!
For a simple way to build a skeleton with your child, make sure you check out the Q-tip skeleton craft. It also makes a great Halloween activity!
For more human anatomy activities, check out how to make a simple lung model.