The circulatory system is the most important system in the human body; it encompasses the heart, blood and vessels. The blood traveling from the heart takes oxygen to other organs in the body, and on the way back it takes waste products for your body to eliminate. This system is very complex and one way to help kids understand these topics is through the use of games.
Act it Out
You need a large empty space for this game; an outdoor basketball court would be ideal. Draw a large outline of the human body using chalk. Details are not important, but designate a place for a head, arms, legs and chest. Children will choose organ roles from a hat: heart, lungs, arms, legs, brain and others. The rest of the students will be blood. Place all students in their spots. Give the students that are acting as organ parts labels with the words "oxygen," "carbon dioxide" and "waste." The students acting as blood will travel from one organ to another, taking the trip that blood makes through the body. For example, the "blood" students traveling from the heart to the lungs will be given "oxygen" labels, and when that blood travels back to the heart they should exchange an "oxygen" label for a "carbon dioxide" label. This interactive game will help students understand the function of blood in the body.
Beat Activity
Ask children to list three of their favorite activities or games; give them examples like basketball, jump rope, watching TV, reading, running and playing tag. Ask the students to pair up and share their lists. The pairs will each complete their three activities and monitor the heart rate during each activity. They should document how many beats per minute they had after each activity. Come back together as a class and discuss the relationship between activity and heart rate.
Circulatory System Jeopardy
Break up your class into two groups; kids should line up one after another. Set up a Jeopardy topic center using the blackboard. Include different trivia questions about the circulatory system, covering heart functions, blood, organ roles and other topics you've covered in class. Two students will get a bell and as you ask the first question, the first student who rings a bell gets to answer. Whichever team answers the most questions wins.
Play Doctor
Explain to children that more than 170 years ago, a man named Laennec created the first stethoscope. Have the students use paper towel roll tubes as their own stethoscopes. They will each get a chance to play doctor and listen to someone's heart. One partner should place the tube over the other partner's heart and listen. He should count the number of beats for 30 seconds, and double that number to get a beat per minute number. Then, the doctor should ask his partner to jump rope for one minute, after which he'll check the beats per minute one more time. Have the partners switch.
