Blood & Circulation Activities

Updated September 2023

When homeschooling became mandatory (article originally written in 2020) it was clear the kids needed more to keep them busy than what the school was providing virtually. I decided to go back to what I had learned in elementary school. Things like cursive, memorizing multiplication facts and the states & capitals. I also decided to dive into the systems of the human body. (Affiliate links included, I may earn a small commission if you click on one of the links, at no extra cost to you!) We started with the basics- what is blood and how does it work in our bodies? Keep scrolling for blood and circulation activities to add to your curriculum!

Sensory

I have a big clear Rubbermaid bin that I use as a sensory bin each week. I try to find activities that will work for all ages but this requires adult supervision for the little ones. This week I filled it with red water beads (I used these and they worked great!)

Once expanded these will represent the red blood cells which bring the oxygen throughout the body. Next add some ping pong balls to represent the white blood cells which fight off viruses. The red rectangles are pieces of craft foam which are our “platelets”. Platelets are what clot our blood after an injury. The water beads will require a lot of water (several cups) and take a few hours to grow to full size. Adding too much water is okay- it will just be the plasma! Plasma helps move the blood cells through our veins. My kids loved this sensory bin and it really helped illustrate what is inside of our veins.

Music/Movement

This week we sang, “Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes” for little M to be a part of our body study! We also watched some good ol’ School House Rock. Later in the week we did some cardio exercises to get the kids’ blood pumping (and to tired them out).

Art

We made dolls to model the circulation path similar to this: https://pin.it/2LMFSsW

Science

Obviously the entire subject of blood & circulation is science-however this experiment on how the heart pumps blood was our science focus activity for the week.

Additional Resources for Blood and Circulation Activities

We have been on a Magic School Bus kick lately since all of the episodes are on Netflix and we ended our week with a few episodes:
The Magic School Bus Works Out- Season 3 Episode 9 (Circulation)
The Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie- Season 1 Episode 3 (Blood)

Hopefully these activities can help round out a week of curriculum for you!

For more ideas please follow me on Pinterest!