A Childrens Indoor Play Activity
Children enjoy learning about the inner workings of their bodies, and pulse rate is an easy way to get them thinking about their circulatory system.
Materials Required:
- Your time only
Instructions:
Children enjoy learning about the inner workings of their bodies, and pulse rate is an easy way to get them thinking about their circulatory system.
First, explain that the heart is like a pump. If you don’t have a stethoscope handy, have your child put his or her ear on your chest to hear the “lub dub” sound.
Next, describe the circulatory system as many hoses that carry blood from the heart to the lungs and all parts of the body, then return to the heart.
Show your child how to take a pulse reading at his or her wrist or neck (or your wrist or neck).
Demonstrate how various activities cause the heart to speed up or slow down: running, jumping, lying down on the floor to take deep slow breaths, and so on.
Younger kids will appreciate their pulse simply going faster or slower; for older kids, watch the clock, say start and stop, and let them count. (You can do the multiplication to determine the rate.)
You might want to save this activity for a rainy day: Test your child’s pulse with lots of activities … then end with a nice long rest on the floor or couch.
This Childrens Indoor Play Activity is sponsored by Zane Education – the home of online Visual Learning.
