Spinal Cord Craft

If you’re studying the nervous system, looking for a hands-on activity to learn about the spinal cord? This spinal cord craft was my way of illustrating the vertebrate and how the nerves are interweaved between them.

In a perfect world, my wagon wheel pasta wheels would be larger so that the nerves (licorice candy) could be pulled through. They were too thick to pull through so we tied them around the wagon wheels.

We did this activity with our homeschool co-op class and all I asked was that they finished their spinal cord before they ate their nerves. The kids were really excited about finishing the activity.

We discussed how the spinal cord is the gateway from the brain to the peripheral nervous system. We did some fun experiments with our senses which I’ll discuss later.

We discussed the different areas of the brain keeping it pretty simple but talking about their main functions. I didn’t want to dumb things down for the class but we did cover a lot so I wanted to take one thing to focus on for our activity to cement what we were learning.

>> See more human body activities for kids

Need a hands-on way to create a spinal cord? Use candy, my kids loved creating the spinal cord craft and then eating their hard work.

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What is the function of the spinal cord?

The brain and the spinal cord make up the central nervous system. The spinal cord is responsible for helping the brain communicate with the rest of the body. It is made up of nerves that sends messages to the brain and from the brain to the rest of the body.

The spine itself is made of different bones that make up the spinal column.

7 cervical vertebrae
12 thoracic vertebrae
5 lumbar vertebrae
31 pairs of nerves

We didn’t have time to really nail down vocabulary in a 45 minute class but the goal was for them to take away that the spinal cord is very important to the nervous system and the entire human body. If that’s all they took away from our class, I would have been very happy.

If your kids enjoyed this activity, your kids will love the Parts of the Brain Coloring Page, too.

Recommended Human Body Books

Find out more about the nervous system and the important role it plays with one of these cool human body books. The body has a lot of parts and systems that allows you to think, run and play.

My Amazing Body Machine: A Colorful Visual Guide to How Your Body Works First Human Body Encyclopedia (DK First Reference)My First Human Body Book Inside Your Outside: All About the Human Body (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library)Me and My Amazing Body The Fantastic Body: What Makes You Tick & How You Get Sick

Spinal Cord Craft Supplies

Spinal Cord Craft Instructions

Tie off or bend one end of the pipe cleaner so nothing falls off the end.
Have the child alternate Cheerios and wagon wheel pastas onto the pipe cleaner.
Pull apart the Twizzlers and use one string to tie around the wagon wheel.

Spinal cord craft to learn about the human body

Recommended Human Body Kits

Want to see how the spinal cord fits into the entire human body? Grab one of these human body kits to see the spinal cord in action.

SmartLab Toys Squishy Human Body Learning Resources Human Body Model The Magic School Bus: A Journey into the Human Body Melissa & Doug Magnetic Human Body Anatomy Play Set With 24 Magnetic Pieces and Storage Tray

The spinal cord plays an important part in our body, it helps the brain send messages from the brain to the rest of the body and back through nerve fibers.

Need more human body activities?

The Human Body book for Early Learning is available now! It is packed with hands-on human body activities that will make teaching your early learner a breeze.

Human Body Activities for Early Learners

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Books About the Human Body for Elementary Students

Older kids will be so excited to learn interesting facts about the human body with these human body books for elementary students!

5 Senses Activities for Kindergarten

If you are planning for your 5 senses science lesson, you have to see this list of 5 senses activities for kindergarten. Try these with your kids and you will have an awesome lesson.

Anatomy Activities for Elementary Students

Studying the human anatomy? You have to try these cool anatomy activities designed for elementary students!

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Your preschooler will love these human body parts crafts, experiments, and more!

Human Body Crafts for Elementary

Don’t miss out on these cool crafts about the human body! Perfect for older kids!

Brain Crafts for Kids

These crafts about the brain will make learning super fun and extra special!

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