How Skinteresting!
Project #1 – Hand Craft Extension:
This project is another extension of Activity #2 from our Skin lesson (About Me Workbook). It gives your child the opportunity to closely examine the skin on his hand.
First, trace around your child’s hand onto a piece of card stock. Cut out with scissors.
Second, tell him to look closely at the lines on his hand, called flexion creases.
He should copy what he sees onto each side of the cut-out.
Now, scribble some pencil onto a piece of paper, using the side of the graphite.
Have your child rub some graphite onto the top of one of his fingers. Stick a small piece of clear tape onto the finger – a clear fingerprint will transfer onto the tape!
Your child can now put the tape onto the corresponding finger of the cut-out. Repeat with the remaining fingers.
Why we like it: This activity encourages children to closely analyze their skin. You can also talk about different types of fingerprints and why they are useful.
Project #2 – Skin Layers
With four different colors of play dough, pipe cleaners, andstraws, you can build a simplified model of skin layers.
Each color of play dough represents a different layer of skin: surface (stratum corneum), new skin (stratum lucidum), dermis, and fat.
Give your child a clump of each color, doubling up the amount for the dermis. He should form a flat rectangle out of each clump (two rectangles for the dermis).
As he builds his skin, be sure your child puts straws (blood vessels) inside the dermis. Cut pipe cleaner pieces (hair) long enough to stick all the way down into the dermis from the surface.
Why we like it: This simple activity will help explain why, when your child gets a scrape, the skin underneath is pink. It will also show where hair begins to grow and that there are blood vessels within his skin.