Awesome Muscular System Hand Craft for Kids
If you’re studying the muscle system or the skeletal system this year, you have to try our muscular system hand craft with your kids. My daughter saw her brother create one from our homeschool co-op class and she wanted to make her own hand.
Of course, it was used to hit each other with it afterward but apparently, that was very exciting for them. They will absolutely love making this Muscular System hand craft for kids!
>> See more human body activities for kids
This was coincidental because the third month of the Tinker Crate subscription box also lets you craft a Bionicle hand. This gave us a chance to work on it twice and my son learned even more with Tinker Crate after going over the human body with me.
If you like this activity, check out our Human Life Cycle Worksheet, too.
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What is the muscular system?
The muscular system is the system of joints and muscle tissue that help the body create movement. Muscles provide force to make voluntary movements, like opening and closing your hands, or holding your phone.
Which body parts make up the Muscular System?
The Muscular System is made up of skeletal muscles, smooth muscles, and cardiac muscle. Skeletal muscles are found in your body’s outer covering (skin), in the walls of your digestive tract, and in the walls of your heart. Smooth muscles are found in your digestive tract, uterus, and bladder. Cardiac muscle is found in the walls of your heart.
What does the muscular system do?
The muscular system is responsible for the movement of the body. It includes skeletal muscles that contract and relax, smooth muscles that control the urinary tract, and cardiac muscle that contracts to pump blood through the body.
How do muscles work in the body?
Muscles are made up of cells that contract and relax. They help with many things from blinking, to lifting your plate, to making your heart beat.
Smooth muscle tissue are thin sheets of muscle that move food along the digestive tract, contracting when the stomach is empty to prevent backflow.
Muscles work as a pump. They contract and release, which allows blood to flow through them and around the body. For example, if your heart contracts, it will pump blood out of your left ventricle.
How do your fingers move?
There are actually no muscles in your fingers. The fingers are connected with tendon that attached bone to bone.
The muscles in your forearm as what pull on the tendons to move your fingers.
Your hands are important to you as they help you push, pull, carry, and grab. It helps you feel and touch and is sensitive to touch and temperature.
While this craft is called a muscular system hand craft, the straws in the craft actually represent the bones. So you could do this as a skeletal system activity as well.
Each hand has 27 bones, this craft is a simplified version for kids. There are 3 bones in the fingers and two in the thumb.
Recommended Human Body Books
When you’re learning about the human body, you need a good resource to refer to will amazing illustrations to answer your childrens’ questions.
My Book of the Human Body: For Kids Ages 6-12.Human Body! (Knowledge Encyclopedias)Inside Out Human Body: Explore the World’s Most Amazing Machine-You!First Human Body Encyclopedia (DK First Reference)Me and My BodyThe Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body
What are some creative ways to learn about the Muscular System?
This STEM activity is a creative way for kids to learn about the Muscular System. This activity will engage their senses and help them to understand how muscles are connected to the bones nad movement.
Not only did they learn how to follow directions, but they were happy with the outcome of this hand craft. They learned about muscles and their functions, as well as the reactions of muscles during different movements.
Some creative ways to learn about the muscular system are drawing the musculature of your hand in pencil, creating an arm that you can move but contracting and releasing with a balloon, or using playdough to build different parts of the body in muscle.
Muscular System Hand Craft for Kids
This is such a great STEM activity for the kids. I love the creativity behind it and the kids loved being able to create and build this on their own. Not only did they learn to follow directions but they were so pleased with the outcome of this hand craft as well.
Make certain that you’re there for guidance and support as they’re working through this craft. There might be sections that they need your help with.
Hand Craft Supplies
Below are the supplies that you’ll need for this simple learning craft.
- Card stock paper
or cardboard - String or yarn
- Straws
- Tape
- Scissors
- Pencil
or cardboard
Hand Craft Directions
Outline your hand on the cardstock and cut it out.
Cut three straw segments for each finger and two for the thumb, we used the long portion to go down the hand to the wrist.
Line up the straw segments on each finger, make sure they are aligned and tape them down without covering the ends.
Tape the yarn to the back of the hand and then thread it through each finger segment down to the wrist.
Repeat with each finger.
Talk to your child about this craft and how it makes them feel. Then, expand a bit and talk about everything that we use our hands for.
What I love about this craft is that it opens up the lines of communication and really gets the kids thinking.
Recommended Human Body Kits
Since you’re going to be creating this hand craft, take this time to dive into some other great kits as well. If you have a child who is interested in learning more about the human body, embrace that and keep going with the learning!
You can explore how close the muscle system and skeletal system work together. Bones cannot move without muscle.
Be Amazing! Toys Interactive Human Body Fully Poseable Anatomy Figure – 14” Tall Human Body Model for Kids – Anatomy Kit – Removable Muscles, Organs and Bones STEM Kids Anatomy Toy – Ages 8+Thames & Kosmos Gross Anatomy: Make-Your-Own Squishy Human Body STEM Experiment Kit | Make Colorful Models of Human Organs with Slime & Putty | Fun, Tactile Intro to Human Anatomy | 5 Cool ActivitiesSmartLab Toys Squishy Human Body, Multicolor, StandardLearning Resources Anatomy Models Bundle Set, Brain, Body, Heart, Skeleton, Classroom Demonstration Tools, Teacher Accessories, Grades 8+, Ages 3+The Magic School Bus:A Journey into the Human Body3D Organ Toy Set, Human Body Anatomy Awareness Teaching Tools, Preschool Educational Organ Plush Toys, Science Learning Kits for Kids for Home School Teaching Aids (Organ Toy)
This is a wonderful fine motor activity for kids since you have to thread the yarn through the straws. My daughter did most of it but had some trouble with the longer straws and got tired and needed my help which I was glad to do.
Our hands have been well-loved as there are starting to rip, you can also do this with a thicker cardboard if you’d prefer something more sturdy. Our students adored this craft and the other parents were impressed with what their kids had retained from our class.
It’s a wonderful feeling to know that the students are actually listening when I’m talking, lol, because it never feels like that in class.
Need more human body activities?
The Human Body book for Early Learning is available now!
More human body activities
Digestive System Craft for Kids
Muscular system worksheets for kids
Learn the Muscular System by 3 Boys and a Dog
Human Body Playdough Mats by 123 Homeschool 4 Me
Excellent ideas – the hands, as well as the skeleton! Thank you so much!
You’re welcome, glad you like them.
Great job for making study interactive.i found it useful.
Quick Question: How did you connect the string at the top of the hand? Trying to figure this really cool activity out! Thanks.
I tape it to the back of the hand so it’s secure.
This is really cool!
It is, the kids love this.
This looks awesome! I’m looking to do this with groups of kids 4-11. When you thread the yarn through the straw, so I need a long “threader” or does the yarn push through fairly easily? Trying think about my younger kids.
It depends on the yarn and the size of your straw but if you can’t get it through easily, you can tape the ends of your yarn with scotch tape to make it easier for younger kids. With my group of 5th graders, they had no issues.