Teaching children how their bodies function is essential for their well-being. Making the learning process about the circulatory system enjoyable and captivating can help kids understand it thoroughly and remember it effortlessly!
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Simple Ways To Teach the Circulatory System for Kids
These activities provide a comprehensive introduction to the circulatory system, illustrating how the heart and blood vessels collaborate to sustain our bodies.
1. Playdough Circulatory System
Begin by drawing a large outline of the human body. Then, use red playdough for arteries and blue for veins. Feel free to add other significant organs such as the lungs, brain, liver, and kidneys if desired.
2. Circulatory System Reveal
Introduce the circulatory system to young children with this engaging activity! Start by mixing a tablespoon of baking soda with hot water to create “invisible ink.” Once cooled, draw a simple outline of a human body on paper and use a small paintbrush to add a heart and blood vessels, letting it dry. To unveil the hidden image, mix hand sanitizer with turmeric, and have kids paint over the drawing to reveal red heart and blood vessels!
3. Circulatory System Word Wall
Create a word wall featuring key terms related to the circulatory system, including heart, blood, blood vessel, vein, artery, capillary, chamber, atrium, ventricle, aorta, plasma, red blood cell, white blood cell, platelet, pulse, cardiovascular, valve, and hemoglobin.
4. Narrowed Blood Vessels Demo
For this demonstration, use two 2-inch PVC pipes, each about 6 inches long, along with a couple of pitchers of water dyed red to represent blood, and some playdough or clay. Show one pipe to the kids, explaining it represents a healthy blood vessel, and pour water through it, noting the easy flow. Then, create layers of buildup (plaque) inside the other pipe with playdough or clay and pour water again. Invite kids to compare the two and discuss ways to maintain healthy blood vessels.
5. Yarn Blood Vessels
Create another model of the circulatory system using yarn to symbolize veins and arteries. If your body silhouette is large enough, you can use thread to represent arteries throughout the system. Once everything is in place, glue it all down to complete the model!
Hands-On Blood and Heart Activities for Kids
After kids grasp the overall system, delve into blood and heart activities like these.
6. Blood Sensory Bin
Show children that blood isn’t intimidating once you understand its components! Construct a sensory bin by filling a container with water and adding red water beads to represent red blood cells. Include some Ping-Pong balls for white blood cells and small pieces of red craft foam to symbolize platelets. As kids engage and play, teach them more about the various elements of their blood.
7. Beat the Heartbeat
The heart pumps approximately 1.3 gallons of blood per minute. Think you can keep up? Fill a container with a little more than a gallon of water and set a timer. Use a small cup to transfer water into another container as quickly as possible. Can you outpace your own heartbeat?
8. Simple Stethoscope
Kids know that doctors use stethoscopes to listen to their hearts. Attach a plastic funnel to the end of a cardboard tube (narrow side in) to make your own quick DIY version.
9. Marshmallow Pulse
Now that they’ve heard their heart, try this idea to see it in action. Push a toothpick into a marshmallow and set it on your upturned wrist. Hold very still and you should see the toothpick bounce up and down along with your pulse!
10. Bottle of Blood
Take a closer look at blood and learn about the different types of cells, platelets, and the plasma that they all float around in by making a model in a bottle. Use corn syrup to represent the plasma, Red Hots (cinnamon Imperials) for the red blood cells, dried white beans for the white blood cells, and uncooked white rice for the platelets. Add them all to an empty water bottle and cap it tightly.
11. Heart Rate Graph
Have students take their resting pulse and record it. Then, run a few laps, do 20 jumping jacks, or dance for one minute, and record their heart rate again. Talk about how their heart range changes after some activities, and explain why it happens.
12. Blood Type Simulation
Learning about blood types? This simple simulation uses water and food coloring to show which types are compatible with each other by checking to see if the color changes. Use 16 small clear cups and label them with blood types (A, B, AB, and O), four for each, then fill them with water. Add red food coloring to the four Type A cups, blue to the four type B cups, red and blue to make purple in the AB cups, and leave the Type O cups plain water. Now the fun begins! Pour one A cup into another A cup, and note that the color does not change. These types are compatible. Pour the next A cup into one B cup, and note that the color changes. These types aren’t compatible. Repeat with the rest of the cups until you’ve mixed all the types in different combinations.
13. Stuffed Animal “Blood Drive”
This might be the cutest of all the circulatory system activities! Gather up some stuffies, assign them “blood types,” then hold a blood drive with toy syringes. Kids learn about blood types and the importance of being willing to donate blood. You can also pretend some stuffed animals are injured, and determine which of the other animals could safely donate blood to help them.
14. Stop-Motion Animation
Create a stop-motion animation to show how the heart or circulatory system works. Use props like playdough or LEGO bricks, or even draw pieces on paper!
15. The Blood-Typing Game
If you’d like a more lifelike example, check out this cool interactive online game. Kids “draw blood” from a patient, then run tests to find the blood type and perform a lifesaving transfusion. You can take a tutorial first to learn how it all works too!
Play it: The Blood-Typing Game at Educational Games
16. Blood Model Slime
Another way to show what goes into slime is with this blood model slime! First, mix up a batch of clear slime using one of our four easy recipes. Then, add small red beads for red blood cells, large white beads for white blood cells, and oversized glitter for platelets. Look up the correct ratio of each and mix up your slime accordingly.
Cardiovascular and Circulatory System Project Ideas
Looking for science fair ideas or larger projects for your students? These circulatory system projects provide opportunities for kids of all ages to explore the heart, blood, and cardiovascular system.
17. High School Heart Club
Earn community service hours and promote community health by forming a Heart Club. Support heart patients, raise funds, and advocate for healthy habits at school. Here’s how to get started.
18. Working Circulatory System Model
Impress science fair judges by constructing a working model of the cardiovascular system. Learn how to make the heart pump by moving fluids through tubes representing veins, arteries, and capillaries. This project requires both human anatomy knowledge and engineering skills!
19. Squishy Circuits Light-Up Heart Model
The heart operates on electrical impulses, so incorporating electricity into your circulatory system project is a brilliant idea! Squishy Circuits are a cool learning toy that combines circuit building with playdough. Use them to build a model of the human heart that flashes on and off to represent the beats.
20. Heart Drawing Tutorial
Kids love to follow drawing tutorials, and this one will be no exception. Show a video on how to draw a human heart, stopping at appropriate parts to make sure all students are following. Or lead your students yourself with a step-by-step tutorial. The muscle memory involved in actually drawing each part should help them with remembering the various components of the heart.
21. Kids Heart Challenge
The American Heart Association created the Kids Heart Challenge to raise awareness about the importance of heart health for kids. Schools compete as teams for a chance to win prizes—and, of course, to keep kids healthy. This would be a terrific service learning project for kids or teens.
Learn more: Kids Heart Challenge
22. Beaded Heart
Help younger students work on fine motor skills by adding beads to pipe cleaners that are attached to a heart glued onto cardboard. The pipe cleaner represents the arteries while the beads represent the blood cells.
23. Hands-Only CPR
Organize a class for older kids and teens (and the rest of the community) to learn the hands-only CPR method. Learn more about it from the American Heart Association.
Heart and Circulatory System Books and Videos for Kids
These resources help kids learn about the heart, blood, and circulatory system in age-appropriate ways. Check them out and add a few to your shelves or lesson plans!
Don’t forget to grab your free printable science experiment recording sheets!
Use these sheets with these circulatory system activities or any science experiments or demos in the classroom. They’re terrific for planning science fair projects too!
Love these circulatory system activities? Check out these Interactive Ways To Teach Kids the Anatomy of the Human Body.
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