Many kindergartners are curious about their bodies and how they work. At this age they tend to learn about the five senses, but they love learning more if you make it simple and age-appropriate! This simple, fun lungs project for kids allows preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd graders start to understand how do lungs work! All you need are a couple common household materials and you are ready for a human body project on lungs for kids!
How Lungs Work for Kids
Have your kids ever wondered what happens when they hold their breath? Why they need to breathe? Why does their chest move up and down when they breath in and out? These are all great questions from curious kids eager to learn! Expand on yoru child’s natural curiousity by helping them learn how do lungs work! Lungs are bag-like organ used for breathing. All animals that have a backbone and breathe air have lungs; two lungs to be exact. They are located in the midd of your chest on each side of your heart. The right lung has three rounded sections called lobes whiel the left side has 2 lobes. Each lung rests on a strong layer of muscle claled the diaphragm. You you breathe in (inhale) the muscles between yoru ribs tighten and relax to help fill your lungs with oxygen. When you breathes out (exhale), your muscles relax which allows a gas called carbon dioxide and water vapor exits your lungs. In this lungs project for kids, preschoolers, kindergartners, grade 1, grade 2, grade and 3 students will get a chance to observe how inhale and exhale work with your lungs for kids.
Lung experiment for preschool
For this simple project all you need are a few supplies you probabaly already have on hand:
- 2 brown paper bags (like the kinds used for lunches)
- sharpie or marker
- 2 straws
- tape (scotch or packing tape)
Lungs activity for kindergarten
To start with, open up a book about lungs to see what they look like and draw a picture on your bag. Each brown bag represents one of your lungs. Here are some terms you can introduce with your child:
- Trachea – a large touch tube that connects the top of the throat to bronchi (somestimes called a windpipe)
- Bronchi – two branching tubes that start at the tracheal and then lead to right and left lungs respectively
- Bronchioles – even smaller tubes that come off the bronchi in the lungs
- Alveoli – tiny sacs off of each broncioles
Basically, your lung looks like a tree upside down!
Lungs for Kids
Now label the parts of the lung your child can grasp. How in-depth you go will really depend on the age of your student.
Lung activity for preschool
Insrt a straw into the completed paper bag. Gather the bag in around the straw, at the top of the sack and affix with packing tape.
Lungs experiment for kindergarten
Repeat with the other bag until you have two lungs with bronchi straw tubes attached and held in place by tape.
Paper bag lungs
To Show how the bronchi (straws) branched off from the main tube that comes from the mouth, we taped the tubes together to from the trachea.
How the lungs work for kids
Have your child blow in the straw trachea and observe what happens. If the opening between the straws and the bag is air-tight, the brown lung bags should fill with air. If you suck in, you should see the lung paper bags deflate as the air is expelled from the bag. This simple science experiment allows young children to begin to grasp what the inside of their bodies look like and how they function.
How do lungs work for kids
For kids who are ready for the rest of the explanation of how the oxygen that is inhaled by the lungs is used by the body…
When the air passes through the walls of the alveoli it goes into tiny blood vessels called capillaries. From there blood cells pick up the oxygen (also called O2) and carry it to cells throughout the body to feed and nourish them. The blood will then carry back the used air (waste) we call carbon dioxide back into the lungswhere the lungs will excrete it by exhaling (breathing out). The lungs also trap and get rid of harmful substances like pollution and bacteria from the air. A sticky liquid called mucus (think snot) line the lungs and the tubes leading to the lungs. The mucus traps harmful material and use a cough to propel it from the lungs. Fascinating, right?
For a more complex project, don’t miss this balloon lungs for kids model and explanation.
Human Body Projects
- Parts of the Brain for Kids Activity with Playdough Brain Model & Free Brain Worksheets for Kids
- Lungs for Kids Working Model and lesson plan
- Blood for Kids – Actiivty to learn about the Human Body
- How do Hands Work – Human Body Muscles for Kids Project
Human Body Activities
Sneak in some fun human body science experiments so they can learn more about HOW their ears work, how eyes work, and how lungs work!
- Human Heart for Kids: 2 Fun Heart Models plus Worksheets
- Hands-on Digestive System Experiment
- How do Muscles Work – Simply Skeletal Muscle Model that works
- Kids will love learning about the ear with this model of ear for school project
- Amazing Vision eye science experiments
- Simple, Paper Bag Lung Project for Kids
- Human Body human body playdough mats – lots of choices to learn about various systems of the body including simple for preschoolers, skeletal system, organs, muscles, nerves, and more!
- EPIC, Life-size Human Body Project
- 4 Skeletal System Project ideas for kids – using things like pasta, life saver gummies, lego, and more you can learn about the human body in a fun memorable way
5 senses for kids
We continued exploring the five senses with these grade school and human body preschool activities:
- Amazing 5 Senses for kids lesson to explore with hands on activities, videos, books, and more!
- Try this Jelly Bean sense of taste activities for preschool experiment.
- Huge pack of 5 Senses Worksheets to explore the senses and sneak in some math and literacy activities too
- Grab this free printable 5 senses preschool printables to explore the senses of sight, taste, sound, smell, and touch
- 5 Senses Coloring Pages
- See all of our hands-on ideas to make learning about the human body for kids FUN and more creative printable science experiments for all ages
- My Body Book Emergent Reader to learn about the different parts of the body under the skin
- Free Skeletal System Worksheets for Kids – everything you need to teach kids about their bodies!
- Teach kids about human cells for kids with hands on activities, free printable reader, human cell worksheets, and more!
- My Body Parts Preschool Book
