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9 Free Major Organs Of The Human Body Printables

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Today I have 9 free dot to dot printables of some of the major organs of the human body. Also, look at my Human Body Lapbook and Fun Unit Study and Human Body Crafts for Kids Who Love Hands-on Learning for more fun ideas.

Dot to dot printables are fun and engaging activities but also offer some awesome benefits for kids.

Children follow the numbers or letters, drawing lines between the dots to uncover fun images.

It’s like solving a puzzle with your pencil.

9 Free Major Organs Of The Human Body Printables

Dot to dot is an effective ways of introducing your littles to important unit studies like the human body.

First, you want to help your child identify some of the major organs of the human body.

For example, the free printables I have are the heart, kidney, stomach, liver, brain, small intestine, urinary bladder, large intestine and lungs.

Next add some books to your human body unit study.

Books for Kids About the Human Body

I prefer living books that tell stories when I can find them.

Then add reference books for my kids who just want the facts.

11 Books And Resources About The Human Body For Preschoolers

Your littles will love these resources and books to learn about the human body.

Also, look at some facts to discuss with your child about each major human body organ.

Major Human Body Organ Facts

As your children are doing the dot to dots share some facts with them.

First, look at the human body heart.

Heart of the Human Body Fun Facts

  • Your heart pumps blood all around your body.
  • This powerful organ beats about 100,000 times a day, sending oxygen and nutrients to every part of the body.

Kidney of the Human Body Fun Facts

  • Your kidneys are bean-shaped and located in the lower part of your body.
  • And your kidneys are like filters. They clean your blood like removing waste.

Stomach of the Human Body Fun Facts

  • Your stomach breaks down the food with acids and enzymes, turning it into a soup-like mixture.
  • When you eat, food travels down a tube called the esophagus and lands in your stomach.

Liver of the Human Body Fun Facts

  • You liver helps your body get rid of toxins.
  • And it also helps with proteins that aid in digesting food.

Brain of the Human Body Fun Facts

  • The brain is made up of billions of tiny cells called neurons that communicate with each other to keep the body running smoothly.
  • Your brain tells your body how to move and even when to breathe.
  • Your brain has amazing storage capacity, more than any computer can store.

Small Intestine of the Human Body Fun Facts

  • The small intestine can be thought of as a long twisty tube. It’s only called small because it’s narrower than the large intestine.
  • When your stomach finishes with your food it travels to the small intestine.
  • It takes the nutrients from the food for your body and it also helps to digest food into smaller pieces.

Urinary Bladder of the Human Body Fun Facts

  • Your bladder is like a stretch balloon that stretches to hold urine.
  • When your kidneys finish filtering your blood, it turns waste into urine.
  • So when the bladder is full, you body says it’s time to go to the bathroom.

Large Intestine of the Human Body Fun Facts

  • The large intestine is long twisty tube too and it gets all the left over food that is not used.
  • One of the jobs is to absorb water so that the waste becomes thicker.
  • Doctors refer to it as stools. We call it poop. (ewwww gross ..cool. I know)

Lungs of the Human Body Fun Facts

  • Think of two balloons in your body when you think of the lungs.
  • When you take a breath, oxygen goes into your body and air fills up the lungs.
  • Then the lungs send oxygen into your body.

Also, look at some of these other human body hands-on activities and crafts.

I have crafts for all ages.

More Hands-on Human Body Activities

9 Free Major Organs Of The Human Body Printables

Finally, look at how to grab these free printables.

How to Grab the Free Dot to Dot Human Body Printables

Now, how to grab the freebies.

It’s a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get my emails in your inbox and you get this freebie.

1) Sign up on my email list.

2) Grab the freebie now.

3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

From Forest to Fun: Unique Crafts With Tree Bark

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Set up an open invitation to play and encourage your child to create crafts with tree bark and a few other nature items. Also, look at my page Famous and Historic Trees Fun Nature and History Homeschool Unit Study for more ideas.

As you have wandered on nature walks you have likely brought home plenty of finds like pieces of tree bark, unique shaped stones, and other bits.

These natural items make a wonderful free craft resource.

From Forest to Fun: Unique Crafts With Tree Bark

Tree bark animals are a fun and easy way to get kids interested in nature.

All you need is a few pieces of tree bark and a little imagination.

You can either leave the pieces as loose parts to build and rebuild or add glue to your supplies.

And let your child attach everything together permanently.

I really wanted to challenge kids’ creativity by using all found nature items for this craft.

But we couldn’t resist adding google eyes to the tray to finish off the animals.

We also decided a few pom poms could help define our animals a bit more as well.

As they create, use the time to talk about the characteristics of the animals, their habitats, if they are herbivore or carnivore?

Of if they’re nocturnal or diurnal? Did you see any of these creatures on your walk today?

Books About Trees for Kids

Next, look at some of these beautiful books about trees to add to your home library.

I prefer living books when I can find them.

Then I add reference books to our reading list.

9 Tree Books & Resources for Kids Who Love Reading and Being Read To

You'll love using one of these books as a science reference or to use for art to inspire life science lessons.

If that is not enough bark crafting for you I found 8 more awesome crafts.

I have tree bark ideas for kids from preschoolers to highschoolers so not a bit of it goes to waste.

8 Unique Crafts With Tree Bark

This creative way to use nature items like leaves and bark –How to Make a DIY Nature Crown for Kids is absolutely photo worthy.

Did you know that you could learn How To Turn Birch Bark Into Paper to write on, much more interesting than plain old notebook paper.

Get creative and make DIY Tree Bark Flower Vases to hold wildflowers or flowers from your garden that they bring you.

You’ll love this fun Hands-On Literature Nature Study: Simple Tree Craft.

Preschoolers will enjoy learning How to Make a Tree Bark Rubbing and noticing the different textures of the bark from different trees along the way.

I love the look of these DIY Tree Bark Lanterns with their natural unique appearance highlighting the gentle glow and they are pretty easy and inexpensive to create.

From Forest to Fun: Unique Crafts With Tree Bark

Make Simple Tree Bark Boats to get creative and learn about buoyancy and other simple STEM topics or just for the sake of creating from found objects.

Learn How to Make an Appalachian Berry Bucket from Tree Bark for the adventurous older child who enjoys working with their hands.

Along the lines of today’s bark crafts is this tutorial for How to Make Bark Owls.

Now onto my bark craft idea.

Essentially what you are going to create is a very open-ended invitation for your child to use their found objects.

You want your child to imagine woodland (or any type) of creatures from moss, rocks, sticks, and of course bark. 

Encourage them to create raccoons, owls, bears, rabbits, foxes, birds, turtles, frogs, hedgehogs, or even made-up fantastical animals.

 The greater variety of natural objects you have the more elaborate their creations can be.

I highly recommend pairing this activity with a good book like Nature Anatomy for them to use for reference.

From Forest to Fun: Unique Crafts With Tree Bark

It’s also a great way to give little bits of information as they create.

You will also find information on the bark as well.

Animal Crafts With Tree Bark

You will need:

  • Tree bark
  • Leaves, twigs, moss, etc.
  • Googly eyes
  • Large tray
  • Optional: glue

First, start by gathering different sizes and shapes of bark.

While you are at it fill your basket with small sticks, moss, green leaves, dried leaves, acorns, or any other interesting natural items you find on your nature walk.

From Forest to Fun: Unique Crafts With Tree Bark

Collect pieces of tree bark from the ground.

Make sure the bark is dry and free of bugs.

To sterilize the bark, you can put it on a cookie sheet and bake it at 350*F.

 The length of time will depend on how thick the wood is.

Lay all your nature finds out on a tray.

I keep a couple different types on hand for just such activities because it creates such an inviting area.

From Forest to Fun: Unique Crafts With Tree Bark

I added google eyes because I just knew that they would be fun and really add some personality to the woodland creatures.

From Forest to Fun: Unique Crafts With Tree Bark

Lay out bark pieces and try to determine what animal each piece might be.

A piece of felt makes a great background and helps keep everything from moving around.

From Forest to Fun: Unique Crafts With Tree Bark

Start building creatures using twigs for legs, leaves for wings, ears, tails, whatever your child’s imagination sees.

Talk about different animals and their characteristics as they create them.

From Forest to Fun: Unique Crafts With Tree Bark

See how the pom poms just helped this adorable bear come to life?

From Forest to Fun: Unique Crafts With Tree Bark

Leaves make wonderful wings.

From Forest to Fun: Unique Crafts With Tree Bark

Small sticks and twigs help define the antlers on this deer…or is it an elk?

From Forest to Fun: Unique Crafts With Tree Bark

Tree bark is like nature’s own art supply, and it’s perfect for all kinds of creative projects.

Crafting with tree bark is a fantastic way to connect with nature and let your creativity run wild.

Fun Preschool Beaver Craft: Simple Projects for Little Hands

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

This preschool beaver craft provides an opportunity for your preschooler to learn about beavers. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool Preschool for more ideas.

And they learn about beaver’s habitats but encourages creativity and fine motor skills development.

This time we sewed up our craft on the sewing machine.

So, this is a great basic shape to introduce a child to the basics of sewing on a machine.

It introduces a very simple pattern.

Fun Preschool Beaver Craft: Simple Projects for Little Hands

It allows them to learn how to move the material carefully through the machine as it sews, enjoy filling it, and the reward of the finished product!

However, if you would like to sew this by hand or glue it instead.

I tried to keep the instructions very simple.

So that it is easily adaptable to any method you would like to use. 

We are bringing these fascinating semi-aquatic animals to life through our craft to deepen a child’s understanding of the natural world.

Besides, the best way to learn is enjoying a fun and engaging hands-on experience.

I think that they make a wonderful subject for a unit study.

To help you put one together. I have facts and plenty more craft and activity ideas to make it full and interesting.

5 Preschool Beaver Facts

  1. Beaver teeth are actually orange not white; their long incisors get their orange color from an iron-rich protective coating of enamel.
  2. Beavers are amazing animals that live in North America and Europe. They are known for their big, flat tails and their ability to build dams.
  3. And they use their tails to help them swim, to slap the water when they are in danger, and store fat for winter.
  4. They work together to build dams and lodges out of sticks and mud. Dams help to create ponds, which provide beavers with a safe place to live and raise their young- they make great nurseries.
  5. Beavers also use their dams to store food for the winter, smaller logs and twigs.
Fun Preschool Beaver Craft: Simple Projects for Little Hands

Next, look at more hands-on activities to learn about beavers.

Preschool Beaver Craft and Activity Ideas

We love a fun puppet and paper bags make a great inexpensive craft supply give this Easy Paper Bag Beaver Craft  a try.

A really hands-on activity for younger children this Pond Life for Kindergarten Activity Build a Fun Beaver Dam teaches early engineering skills, exploring senses, animal science, and more.

Make a Beaver Paper Plate Craft for Kids {Booking Across the USA}, a quick inexpensive and easy craft while you learn about beavers.

I think that these No-Bake Beaver Dam Cookies are a must for any beaver unit, a tasty way to demonstrate how and why they build them.

This is a really gross but fun idea I had that includes beaver scat-10 Gross Scat Facts and How to Make Edible Scat.

Watch this cute and informative 3 minute video on All ABout Beavers for Children.

Finally, look at how to make this stuffed beaver craft.

Stuffed Preschool Beaver Craft

You can either sew this by hand, use a sewing machine, or even put it together with hot glue or fabric glue as well.

You will need:

Fun Preschool Beaver Craft: Simple Projects for Little Hands

First, fold your light brown felt in half.

Cut an oval shape out of both pieces at the same time making one end more narrow for the head.

Use another piece of brown felt to cut out four webbed feet or use the scraps that are left from cutting out your oval shape.

Be sure to leave them a little long so you have excess to attach inside the

Fun Preschool Beaver Craft: Simple Projects for Little Hands

Fold your dark brown felt in half and cut a tail and two small ear shapes.

Cut out two large teeth from white felt.

Make them a little longer than you want them.

You will be tucking some inside.

Fun Preschool Beaver Craft: Simple Projects for Little Hands

Lay out one of your cut light brown pieces.

Use hot glue, fabric glue or some other type of glue to quickly tack the feet and tail pieces into place.

Fun Preschool Beaver Craft: Simple Projects for Little Hands

Lay the second tail piece on top and then the second body piece to line up your edges.

Flip it up and attach the tail to the other piece of body, keeping everything aligned.

You can use pins to line up your edges if you like.

For quick projects like this I thought it would be a simpler first time preschooler project to avoid them.

Fun Preschool Beaver Craft: Simple Projects for Little Hands

Start just outside the tail and sew a quarter of an inch from the edge all the way around stopping on the other side right at the tail.

Fun Preschool Beaver Craft: Simple Projects for Little Hands

Stuff the body as full as you would like with cotton batting through the tail opening.

Fun Preschool Beaver Craft: Simple Projects for Little Hands

Now sew the tail.

Fun Preschool Beaver Craft: Simple Projects for Little Hands

Sew all the way around the tail, securing across where it comes out from the body.

Leave a couple inches for stuffing.

Fill the tail with cotton batting.

Since beavers have a large flat tail, we didn’t add as much stuffing to the tail.

Fun Preschool Beaver Craft: Simple Projects for Little Hands

Attach the eyes and ears with a little bit of hot glue.

Fun Preschool Beaver Craft: Simple Projects for Little Hands

How To Make Plastic Bottle Little Greenhouses | 5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

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Today, I’m sharing 5 plastic bottle craft ideas. Also, look at my page Easy Seeds and Gardening Unit Study for Kids (Middle – Upper Elementary) for more ideas.

Too, we’re creating these adorable 2-liter plastic bottle mini greenhouses.

By turning plastic bottles into greenhouses, you’re not only doing science but teaching about upcycling.

In addition, I have a bit of history of greenhouses, and you can have a mini unit study for the day.

Mini greenhouses are a game-changer for any gardener, no matter your skill level!

So this makes for a great hands-on learning project for multiple ages.

How To Make Plastic Bottle Little Greenhouses | 5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

A greenhouse is basically an enclosed space that is heated and lit by the sun.

Now if you were to expand this project into an actual structure, you will want to cover other topics.

Look at these questions and ideas to think about and plan.

  • what size project is right for your family
  • how many children will be using the space
  • who will be maintaining the space and how much time do you have
  • what do you want to grow. Do you want to grow just vegetables, plants, or explore hydroponics?

Also, for any type of greenhouse, the fun part is checking the progress each day.

This can be expanded into lessons.

Children can take light, wind, and temperature measurements and track the sun at different times of the day.

Additionally, learn about the history of greenhouses.

History of Greenhouses

Did you know that greenhouses are also called glass houses?

Some of the earliest accounts of using structures to grow plants date back to ancient Rome, around 30 A.D.

Cucumber and squash were grown for the Emperor Tiberius.

How To Make Plastic Bottle Little Greenhouses | 5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

In addition, Andrew Faneuil an affluent merchant from Boston, built the first known greenhouse in America in 1737.

Look at this site Dave’s Garden for a short history lesson about greenhouses.

Gardening Books for Kids

Too, look at some of the fun living books about gardening to add to your fun craft today.

I prefer living books when I can find them, then I add reference books too.

11 Gardening With Kids Books & Fun Resources

As a true bibliophile no unit study would be complete without a strong list of books to support a topic. Here is a great list for everyone in the family.

Additionally, look at these other 5 plastic bottle craft ideas.

5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

  1. Use a plastic bottle to make this cool submarine on my post Renaissance Inventors: How To Make A Fascinating Da Vinci Submarine Craft.
  2. How To Make A Plastic Bottle Faux Succulents Terrarium
  3. Take a 2 or 3 liter plastic bottle and make this Ship Craft Ideas & Ship Terminology | Fun Ship in A Bottle Craft for Kids.
  4. DIY Bottle Organizers
  5. Fairy House Night Lights

More Gardening Ideas | 5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

Similarly, look at more gardening ideas.

Finally, look at these 2-liter bottle mini greenhouses to add to the other 5 plastic bottle craft ideas.

How to Make 2-Liter Bottle Mini Greenhouses

First, here is what you need:

  • empty and clean 2-liter bottles
  • x-acto knife
  • plastic wrap
  • rubber band
  • soil
  • seeds (I used sunflower for this project)
  • spray bottle filled with water
  • optional: plastic tray
How To Make Plastic Bottle Little Greenhouses | 5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

First, using the x-acto knife, cut the middle part of the 2-liter bottle out and discard.

How To Make Plastic Bottle Little Greenhouses | 5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

On the bottom of the bottle, cut a few drain holes using the knife.

How To Make Plastic Bottle Little Greenhouses | 5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

You’ll want the top portion of the bottle to fit just enough into the bottom portion to create the greenhouse.

Fill the bottom portion of the bottle with soil.

How To Make Plastic Bottle Little Greenhouses | 5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

Poke 1-3 holes into the soil for the seeds.

How To Make Plastic Bottle Little Greenhouses | 5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

Place a seed into each hole.

How To Make Plastic Bottle Little Greenhouses | 5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

Use the spray bottle to moisten the soil enough with water.

Cover the top portion of the bottle with a piece of plastic wrap and secure with a rubber band.

How To Make Plastic Bottle Little Greenhouses | 5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

Place the lid on top of the bottom portion of the greenhouse.

Set the mini greenhouses near a windowsill that gets good sunshine.

How To Make Plastic Bottle Little Greenhouses | 5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

Use a tray underneath if desired. Observe over a few days.

After a few days, you should see the seeds sprouting.

If you do not see any seeds sprouting, you can try planting another until you get a sprout.

 Seeds not sprouting could be from just bad seeds, diseased seeds, etc.

Once plants reach a certain height, you can transfer to a bigger container or garden outside and watch them grow!

How To Make Plastic Bottle Little Greenhouses | 5 Plastic Bottle Craft Ideas

How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

We’re taking a leftover pool noodle from summer and creating a fun pitcher plant craft to demonstrate how this amazing plant works. Also, look at my free lapbook and Carnivorous Plants unit study.

In tropical and subtropical regions of the world, you can find pitcher plants.

Those places are warm and have humid climates that pitcher plants need to thrive.

Pitcher plants and other carnivorous plants are unable to attain enough nitrogen from the soil where they grow.

This is an important requirement for plants.

How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles

So, in order to survive they have adapted by trapping and absorbing insects which provides them with nitrogen and phosphorus.

They have several different ways that help them attract and trap bugs.

For example, they have pitcher shaped leaves, bug enticing nectar, slippery walls, and enzymes. 

While it’s kind of gross it is really neat and fascinating!

Pitcher-shaped leaves. The pitcher-shaped leaves of pitcher plants are designed to trap insects.

It has leaves that are brightly colored. Too, they have a slippery surface, making it difficult for insects to climb out once they fall in.

Sweet nectar-Pitcher plants produce a sweet nectar that serves as bait for insects.

This nectar is located at the rim of the pitcher and near the opening, enticing insects to investigate.

Slippery walls. There are tiny, downward-pointing hairs in the inner walls. This makes it slippery and difficult for insects to climb out.

These hairs act like a one-way door, allowing insects to enter the pitcher but preventing them from escaping.

Digestive enzymes- Pitcher plants produce digestive enzymes that help them break down and absorb the nutrients from the insects they capture.

These enzymes are secreted into the liquid at the bottom of the pitcher and break down the insect’s body over time.

Books About Carnivorous Plants

Also, add these books to your home library.

11 Carnivorous Plants Resources

Add some of these books and resources for a carnivorous plants unit study for multiple ages.

10 Incredible Facts About The Pitcher Plant

  1. Pitcher Plants can be houseplants. They do best as terrariums with adequate sunlight and mildly acidic soil.
  2. Pitcher plants can be found in various habitats. They can be found in rainforests, swamps, bogs, and even some coastal areas. And they can be found growing on the ground, on trees, or even on rocks.
  3. Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants, this means that they trap and eat insects and other small animals to obtain nutrients.
  4. They have modified leaves that evolved into pitcher-shaped structures, perfectly designed to capture prey.
  5. The inside of the pitcher is lined with downward-pointing hairs and glands that secrete a slippery liquid. This liquid attracts insects with its sweet aroma but makes it difficult for them to climb out once they fall in.
  6. Once an insect falls into the pitcher, it drowns in the liquid. Then it is broken down by enzymes and bacteria, releasing nutrients that the pitcher plant can absorb.
  7. There are approximately 170 known species of pitcher plants. Each has unique characteristics.
  8. Pitcher plants are found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, with the greatest diversity being in Southeast Asia.
  9. Some pitcher plants, such as the Rafflesiana pitcher plant, can grow to be over 10 feet tall, which makes them the largest carnivorous plants in the world.
  10. Pitcher plants play a very important role in the ecosystems by helping to control the population of insects, like mosquitoes, which can carry diseases.
How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles

Pitcher Plant and Other Carnivorous Plant Resources

Botanicum is a wonderful resource full of incredible vintage illustrations and covers a wide variety of plants including our Pitcher Plant.

How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles

How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles

You will need:

  • Pool noodle
  • Green felt
  • Red paint or markers
  • A small knife
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue gun/glue stick
How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles

First, cut a couple of lengths of pool noodle.

Cut it down to the size you would like your pitcher plants.

Vary them in height.

How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles

Then take the knife and scrape the bottom 3/4 tapering the shape a bit.

How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles

Hollow out the center a little more to make the opening larger.

Measure and wrap felt around your pool noodle secure the back with hot glue.

How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles

Cut a piece of pipe cleaner 1 ½”  = long hot glue on the back of the plant, hiding it behind the felt seam.

How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles

Fold the felt inside on both ends of the pool noodle and secure with hot glue

Next, cut two small slices off the pool noodle, an 1/8” or less.

How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles

Shape your small slices a little bit to give them a bit more of a leaf shape.

Then cut felt slightly larger and hot glue with the end of the pipe cleaner in between the two pieces.

How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles

Use red paint or markers to color veins along the length of the plant and all over the top as well as the inner lip.

Allow the paint to dry completely.

How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles

Cut a few more long leaf shapes from green felt and hot glue to pipe cleaners your leaves and plants inside of a pot.

Your small piece of pipe cleaner makes it easy to demonstrate how the plant opens and closes to trap its prey.

How to Make a Fun Pitcher Plant Craft With Pool Noodles