Written by Shawna at Not the Former Things.

As part of our study of the human body, we began a unit on organ systems this month. My son was shocked to learn that the body’s largest organ is our skin! After spending some time learning basic facts about our skin, I decided it was time for a little extra, hands-on fun.

What better way to celebrate the uniqueness of our skin than to learn more about our unique fingerprints and palm prints? (The truth is, this activity can easily be completed as a fun scientific study, completely independent of the human body. It stands alone as its own little mini-unit.)

Hands-On Science: Fingerprint and Palm Print Study

What you’ll need for this activity:

• Printable notebooking pages (included) to record results
• A sturdy piece of cardstock or index card
• A pencil
• A piece of scotch tape

Fingerprint Collection and Observation

Because my son was excited to get started with the messy part, we began with the fingerprint collection and observation portion of the activity.

Here’s how we got one of his thumbprints to observe:

Scribble back and forth with a pencil on the index card or cardstock. You should do this until there is a thick layer of pencil on the sheet.

Have your child firmly place his thumb onto the pencil markings, being careful not to move once his thumb is on the card.

Once your child has carefully lifted his thumb off the penciled area, take a piece of tape and stick it to the “dirty” area of your child’s thumb.

Carefully lift off the tape and stick it to the appropriate area on the Fingerprint Study Notebooking Page.

Once the tape is affixed to the white backdrop of the page, your child will easily be able to observe and discuss her findings.

Interesting Facts We Learned About Fingerprints

• Fingerprints stay the same over our lifetime, no matter how much our fingers grow.
• The only way to change a fingerprint is through surgery, injury or diseases of the skin.
• No two fingerprints have ever been found alike in many billions of human and automated computer comparisons.
• Even with the discovery of DNA, fingerprints remain the primary source of criminal identification around the world.
• The first noted examples of fingerprints being used for identification are from Ancient Rome. Fingerprints were used in business transactions, the way we use signatures today.

Palm Print Tracing and Observation

Depending on your child’s stamina, this portion of the activity can be done the same day as the fingerprint study, or completed later in the week.

Trace your child’s hand in the labeled section of the Palm Print Study Notebooking Page.

Have your child observe and record (draw) the lines they see on their actual palm, on the traced version.

Observe, discuss and record your findings.

Interesting Facts We Learned About Palm Prints

• Palm prints were used in Ancient China as part of crime scene investigation as early as 200 BC.
• Palm prints are as unique as fingerprints when the entire palm is able to be studied and analyzed.
• Moms love having their baby’s handprints from when they are born. (My son included this one!)

Overall, this activity produced a ton of conversation between my son and I, both about the science of skin and the forensic science behind crime scene investigations. This activity can be scaled back for younger learners, but as is, it worked perfectly for my 12-year old.

Looking for more fun science activities? Try these hands-on lessons!

• Hands-On Science: Label the Skeleton System Activity
• Edible Rock Cycle Fudge and Hands-On Rock Activities
• Free Human Body Lapbook and Unit Study

Written by Shawna of Not the Former Things.

My son’s good friend broke his arm over the summer. The boys talked all about how it happened, signed the cast, and appreciated the color he chose. When we were driving home, I asked them which bone he had broken in his forearm. Both of them looked at me like I had two heads.

Although we had briefly covered anatomy in their science curriculum a year ago, neither really remembered much about the skeletal system. I understood – the learning was a bit dry.

I decided then and there to come up with a hands-on way to understand and learn about the human skeleton. I wanted something that would stick, and would make sense for my active, potentially bone breaking themselves, boys.

Hands-On Science: Label the Skeleton System Activity

Full Disclosure: I am not a crafty mom. I do not have craft supplies all over the place just waiting for creativity to strike. I have Amazon and a little money set aside each month for hands-on learning activities that do not require me to be more crafty than I am capable.

For this activity, you’ll need:

• Two paper skeletons with mobile extremities, per child
• One piece of white construction paper or poster board
• Glue
• A marker
• A ruler
• The Human Skeleton Printable (downloadable cheat sheet)
• Bonus Activity – Any large decorative skeletons/bones you may have in your garage or choose to buy when available in stores

The key to this project is a paper skeleton that can be easily manipulated and held. While it is possible to make them, the good news is that pre-made paper skeletons are not hard to come by. Depending on the time of year, you can find decorative skeletons at the Dollar Store. There are also several, inexpensive options that work well for hands-on learning available year round, online.

To begin this activity, glue one of the paper skeletons to the poster board. Using the ruler, draw lines indicating the the bones you wish to introduce.

For my boys, I started with the basics. We all sat around the poster board and named different bones. Then, we took turns writing the names of the individual bones on the lines, using this printable as a cheat sheet.

When our reference board was complete, we were then able to use it over the course of the week for more hands-on practice and understanding.

I quizzed them on the different bones while they used the paper skeleton that had not been glued down. Because they were able to hold and move the skeleton around, they were easily able to apply what they’d learned.

Here are all the project steps in order:

• Step 1: Glue skeleton to poster board
• Step 2: Draw lines to bones and label them
• Step 3: Check for understanding and learning using additional, free moving, paper skeletons.
• Step:4 Name more and more bones as your child becomes more and more proficient.

As a bonus activity, we practiced naming the different parts of the skeletal system on our full skeleton (named Boney by my youngest. We also used a “bag of bones” set, and placed the larger bones alongside our reference poster.

Overall, these hands-on exercises helped solidify my sons’ understanding of the skeletal system and their own bodies. Now that they know the basics, we will continue to add more bones to our poster. Our goal is to identify all 206 by the end of the year.

See more hands-on ways to teach kids about the human body below!

• Human Body Unit Study: Rigid Versus Flexible Bone Activity
• Human Body Unit Study: Edible Skin Activity
• Human Body Unit Study: Making Blood Activity