Joelle of Homeschool Blogger worked with her kids during their Body Unit, creating some model arms from houshold items. Thanks for sharing your instructions and photos with us!
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Preschoolers Learn About Arms
Supplies to make your Model Arms:
Ping Pong balls
Cardboard Tubes (centers of paper towel rolls)
Glue
Paper Clips
Tape
Rubber Bands
Joelle found the instructions for her first model arms here. Basically, her family glued one half of the ping pong ball into the tube. Then opened up the paper clip and made a hook for the rubber band. They used tape to secure the paper clip. The paper clip held the rubber band on either side of the joint, simulating the tension and resistance that muscles add to a joint. For our simulation of her experiment we used a fuzzy hair band in place of the rubber band as I was concerned with the kids hurting themselves by snapping the band.
And for the finished product:
In the course of teaching about the human body at her electives, Joelle came across a few great educational sites: here.
Oh the things you end up doing as a homeschool mom! (I actually love it).
Joelle is a homeschooling momma of two kids. She blogs at Homeschooling for His Glory
Want to read more about model arms and other science projects? Check out the book below!
Very fun idea, and one that kids of all ages would enjoy. I could see having my high-schooler build a body-model out of household things for biology, even.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but who has ping pong balls laying around the house, other than that it’s a great project
Hi Rachel,
How much time did Joelle take to finish the arm?
Allen Brooke
I love the wordpress web template, exactly where would you down load it from?
Very fun idea, and one that kids of all ages would enjoy. I could see having my high-schooler build a body-model out of household things for biology, even.
Thanks so much for this! I would never have thought of it, and must try it with my kids