Printable Skeleton for Halloween Science Fun: Exploring Anatomy

Printable Skeleton for Halloween Science Fun: Exploring Anatomy

Click here to get this Printable Skeleton activity

Are you looking for a fun way to capitalize on the Halloween excitement in your science class? There are skeletons everywhere at this time of year so why not take this opportunity to teach your students about the skeletal system and the major bones of the human body? Use a printable skeleton to make Halloween a teachable moment. Read on to find out how to use a printable skeleton in your Halloween middle school science lessons!

Printable Skeleton

This is a printable paper skeleton that is huge (40in tall) when assembled. It comes in 15 parts for students to easily assemble by matching the numbered tabs plus 15 bone labels for students to label the human bones. Plus, it comes with a whole bunch of other cool extras that are explained later in this post.

Click here to get this Printable Skeleton

Benefits of Using the Printable Skeleton

A major benefit of using a printable skeleton is that it's hands-on learning. By assembling the skeleton, students learn by doing. They become familiar with the skeletal system and where bones go in the human body. They also notice little details, such as that the lower arm and lower leg have two bones instead of one. You can ask students to point out things like this that they notice, which helps reinforce the learning and makes for a terrific classroom science discussion. Call students up to label the bones as you talk about them so they learn the names as you discuss the bones. 

You can customize a printable skeleton for your needs. For example, if your class is not learning some of the included bone names, simply leave them out. Or create additional labels for more bones for more advanced students. In this way, you can scaffold the lesson for differentiated learning. And it's totally budget-friendly because it's inexpensive and can be used year after year. Print as many copies as you need, whenever you need them!

How to Use the Printable Skeleton in Classroom Activities

Print out the skeleton. Print it on ANY color paper. You might choose white to represent bones. Orange or green or purple can be super fun and festive for Halloween. 

This is the same printable skeleton, printed on green paper.
You can print the skeleton on any color paper you prefer!

Students cut out the individual bones and then assemble the skeleton by matching the numbered tabs to connect the human bones accurately. For example:

The skeleton is easy to assemble by matching the numbers on the tabs.
In this image, the 10 on the pelvis is overlapping the 10 on the femur tab.
It's really that simple to assemble this printable skeleton.

Decide where to display your printable skeleton. This is the fun part! I like to put it on my classroom door. Students comment on it during passing period. Some are even students I don't know! They tease me about being such a nerd because I've labeled the bones on my Halloween skeleton. They're really amused by it. Other great places to display the skeleton are on a bulletin board or a wall. Or hang it from the ceiling! Another option is to let students take their skeletons away to use as Halloween decorations at home.

This is the printable skeleton on a classroom door.

Once you've decided where to display your printable skeleton, cut out the bone names and have students place the label next to each matching bone. When students place the bone name next to the associated bone, it reinforces anatomical knowledge.

Integrating the Printable Skeleton into Halloween Science Activities

There are tons of fun ways to use a printable skeleton in your classroom. Here are a few:

• Have students color in the bones themselves and/or make their own labels. Gifted students or those who finish early can even make additional labels beyond the included ones. (Where is the xyphoid process, anyway?)
• Print multiple copies of the skeleton and put students in groups. Challenge students to race to see which group can construct their skeleton the fastest. Then have another race to see which group can (accurately!) label their skeleton the fastest.
• Display or project the skeleton of a different animal (e.g., dog, cat, giraffe, whale), and ask students to find comparable bones. For instance, where are the ribs on the animal? You can print extra copies of the bone labels and have students label the bones on the animal. This is a great activity for comparative anatomy.
• Do you have x-rays of a human skeleton? Have students match those with the bones on their printable skeleton and label the bones on both.
• This printable skeleton comes with a mini printable skeleton that students can assemble on a regular sheet of paper. It also comes with mini labels! Have students construct their mini skeletons. If you teach with interactive notebooks, the skeletons can be glued into the INBs.

  

  Students can cut out and label a MINI skeleton.It can be glued onto a sheet of paper or in an interactive notebook. This mini is included with the printable skeleton resource.

  
  

The printable skeleton also comes with an interactive worksheet for students to fill in the bones. The worksheet is in both printable and digital formats. In the digital version, students drag and drop the bone names into their correct positions. 

The printable skeleton comes with a worksheet in both printable AND ...

... digital formats.

Educational Value and Alignment to Curriculum Standards

This printable skeleton has tremendous value in teaching about the human body and the skeletal system in particular. Check your grade level science standards for topics such as human body systems, human evolution, and/or using models in science. Constructing this printable skeleton also encourages following directions and the development of fine motor skills in cutting and gluing. There are many opportunities for cross-curricular connections such as in art (decorating the skeleton), social studies (connections to Dia de Los Muertos in Mexico), and English (writing about their paper skeletons).

And finally, if you're looking for MORE fun Halloween science in addition to this printable skeleton, then please check out this Spooktacular STEM DIY Paper Light Up Halloween House Electricity Activity which is great for teaching about electricity and electrical circuits.

Click here to get this Spooktacular STEM DIY Light Up Halloween House Electricity Activity

And if that leads to other ways you like to teach electricity, please check out this blog post on Top 10 Ways to Teach Electricity to Middle School Students. 

I hope you and your printable skeletons have a fantastic, science-oriented Halloween.

Happy Halloween!