Human Body DIY
I've found the human body pretty amazing ever since uni days. It's something I've always wanted to teach my children, and now I've been given the chance to, Alhamdulillah. So I made my boys a felt human body so they can learn and explore with. It turned out to be the size of my toddler! I can just see us having so much fun with this. We will begin our Human body lessons straight after learning about our 5 senses.
DIY Felt Human Body
What You Need:
'No Sew' Tape (Iron On)
- Base Layer (I used cream) 66 cm x 90 cm
- Body Layer (I used brown) 42 cm x 90 cm (Body template measures 34 cm x 71 cm)
- A4 Pieces or smaller scraps for the organs (Light blue, Dark Pink, Light Pink, Maroon, Dark Green, Cream, )
- x3 A4 Stiffened Pieces for the skeleton (White)
How to Make:
1. Cut and trace the body template onto the brown felt, then cut.
2. Thread your needle and tie a knot. Hand sew the body in the centre of the base felt piece, (this took me a few hours!). I used the whipstitch method (where the needle is passed in and out of the fabric in a spiral motion).
4. For the organs: trace the templates onto the A4 felt pieces. Please refer to the Organ template for the appropriate colours.
5. Use the 'no sew' tape and iron to stick the pieces together. Organs should end up looking like this (see below). I've added some instructions for a few organs below.
Place the trachea in the centre of the 2 lung lobes. Add a little 'no sew' tape under the right and left side of the trachea. Cover the remaining lobes with 'no sew' tape and place the other 2 lung lobes on top and iron on.
For the Brain: Place 'no sew' tape all over the white base. Iron on the 2 hemispheres, brain stem and cerebellum. Then for each individual 'groove' on top of the brain you'll need to cut really thin strips of tape, then iron.
For the Kidneys: I've attached all the urinary system organs as one for future Body System work Feel free to separate them.
I'll probably hand stitch around the edges of each organ later on.
The base also works out to be a mat! I also plan to stitch a back cover when I have time to. For now it'll be rolled up and placed on the shelf ready for play!
Nomenclature Cards (referred to as 3-Part Cards)
3-Part Cards were created by Maria Montessori to teach children the proper names for objects around them. I've just written a blog post about ways to use and present them HERE. We made our 3 Part Cards bilingual (English and Arabic) and they're available to purchase (scroll to the end).
Here are some other ways to use them with the felt pieces:
For children aged 2.3+, a matching game will help them identify organs. You can use the Montessori 3 Period Lesson to assist. 
For children aged 3-6 matching the images is ideal. If they've started phonics and reading, they can start matching the label too.
For children who know how to read phonics.. try adding a few image and label cards on a mat for them to match up. You can have the matching card nearby for them to cross check and correct.
I'm so happy with the way it turned out! I really can't wait for them to start. If I have enough time, I'll make a part 2 blog about how we used it, otherwise it can be found here @brb_raisingkids.
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