STREAM Activity: Respiratory System Craft

Breathe in, breathe out!

Activity best for children age 2 and up

Breathe in, and then breathe out! We just took a breath of air, but did you know that we actually do that all the time even without realizing it? It’s called breathing! Our bodies need something called oxygen, which we can get by breathing. But how do we breathe? We need the help of our respiratory system to breathe and survive! Whenever we breathe in air from our nose or mouth, it goes down our throat, through the windpipe (trachea) and to the bronchi, which acts like a branch to carry the air to each lung (we’ve all got two!). It’s important for the air to reach both our lungs! From there, the lungs remove the oxygen from the air and delivers the oxygen to all your organs and tissues. For today’s activity, we’re going to make Breathing Straws to help us better understand what our lungs look like when we breathe and how we breathe.

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Materials:

2 Bendy straws

2 Small plastic bags

Tape

Paper

Crayons or markers

Scissors

Guiding Questions:

Take a few deep breaths. Do you feel your chest rise up and down?

When you finish running or jumping, what does your breathing look or feel like?

Directions

Step 1

Fold a piece of white paper in half.

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Step 2

Trace a lung on one side with a pencil or a marker. Once finished, cut it out together so that two identically shaped lungs are cut out.

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Step 3

Color your lungs a light pink or red color.

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Step 4

Take your bendy straw and put the smaller end of the straw inside a plastic bag. Then tape it tightly. Don’t forget to make sure you tape the plastic bag to the straw! Do this for both straws and plastic bags.

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Step 5

Tape both straws together towards the top and bottom. This is so that the straws stay together.

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Step 6

Roll up a few pieces of tape and gently place it on the back side of your plastic lungs. Then carefully place the lung on top of your pink paper lungs and make sure it’s taped down. One plastic bag on each lung. Then you’re all finished! Trying breathing air through the straws and watch what happens to your plastic lungs!

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Grown Ups-Are you looking for more ways to extend your child’s learning? Check out these extension activities to build upon today’s STREAM activity!

Reading Connections

Breathe In, Breathe Out: Learning about Your Lungs by Pamela Nettleton

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Math Connections

Breathing can help relax our mind and body. Take 10 deep breaths and observe how you feel afterwards.

Real-World Connections

We need to breathe air every day for us to survive. When we get more tired after playing or doing something physical, our breathing changes. We should always pay attention to our breathing and make sure we are not too tired.