Free Printable Heart lesson plans for Valentine's Day

Hello fellow educators, with Valentine's Day right around the corner, you're probably up to your elbows in holiday crafts. But how about some non-traditional Valentine's Day activities? Here are free printable heart (as in the organ) lesson plans. Use these for science, anatomy and health lesson plans for fun holiday connections with an educational twist. 

Coloring Home has a large assortment of free printable heart coloring pages featuring diagrams to color and label, plus anatomy coloring pages to show how the heart works within other parts of the body. The health lesson plans help students explore the heart and the larger circulatory system and why it is such a vital organ (the word vital comes from Latin, "vita" or "life.") 

The American Heart Association has loads of free printable heart health lesson plans. There are other resources on heart health and healthy habits. Here a free printables on the circulatory system and heart themed activities to help students keep heart fit. I particularly like the free downloads with printables on 25 ways to keep moving, at home and at school. 

Kids Health has free printable fitness and health lesson plans to help students understand the importance of nutrition, exercise, fitness and healthy choices (not smoking or vaping). Click around to find fitness trackers, heart rate monitors and other tools for wellness. 

Along with the frilly Valentine's Day crafts and valentine exchanges, my students studied the parts of the body in science lesson plans around this holiday. Preschool students made vests cut from grocery bags with organs of the human body drawn on. Older kids made human body T-shirts with body organs drawn on in permanent marker. There are several coloring pages from the Coloring Home link that could be used as parts of the body templates. Older students might stencil on the T-shirt, label and color the human body model. 

Younger students can get scissors skills practice, using the body parts coloring pages as color, cut and paste activities. Here are more free printable human body coloring pages for such cut and paste activities, from Exploring Nature. 

Include lots of active learning in your heart lesson plans and heart healthy snacks! Stay tuned for heart party activities for Valentine's Day! 

The Very Best Educational App in the World

If the Covid 19 pandemic taught us anything it's how valuable a tool digital resources are. However, computers, internet, cellphones, are far too overused and abused. It was honestly sad for me as a long-term educator to see how parents, having to keep kids home, were so quick to run to computers, apps and internet to educate their kids, when there are so many easy, free, hands-on teaching tools to use. I'm not talking about middle or high school students who arguably need computers to do their schoolwork. Arguably. Even, or maybe especially they, need fewer interactive games and more active learning.  I'm speaking of preschool and early elementary age kids. Most all children could do with less or no screen time and more hands-on activities. And Covid 19 was a perfect time to do that. 

I'm not faulting you parents who bought online curriculum or used computer resources. The task of homeschooling often seems daunting. But the good news is that most all of you are homeschooling every day, independent of computers or phones, without even realizing it. You teach your children valuable life skills every time you plan and prep a meal or snack together, read together, visit the doctor or library, go to the grocery store or just take a walk. Kids learn fine and gross motor skills building blocks and practical life skills playing house and communication playing dress up. 

In this blog, I've shared ways to turn your home into a tech-free school, with just simple household items and basic toys. You don't need a big house or fancy materials. You don't even need a designated room or space. I created learning centers in our homeschool when we lived in a small single wide mobile home. We didn't use TV except to play a movie once a week and the "Mister Rogers Neighborhood" ritual. 

The secret is to make every experience a learning opportunity. Not an artificial or contrived "lesson plan." You just incorporate little nugget lessons into everything you do, naturally, organically. Teachable moments are right there for the enjoying. You don't ever need a screen. 

Is it okay to use TV or computers? Of course! Do kids need to be computer savvy? Ye..es, but no fear there. They get all the screen experience they need without having to add more. I think they're hardwired to it now. Or it's something in the water source. What they need are engaged parents, monitored computer time, and online safety courses. And most of all, tons of outdoor time, free play, open-ended experiences, experiments, exploration, books, tree-climbing, sand castles, dancing, polliwogs, messes, beaches, forts in the woods and fresh air! 

And the good news? Those are all free! They don't require an app download or phone memory. They don't drain battery life! If you or your kids are screen addicted (don't be embarrassed to say, we've all been there), shut it down. Go out the door into the best app ever, called the big wide world! I guarantee you'll all feel better, breathe better, think better and have the times of your lives!  (Picture above is "school" from the inside out!)

 reservations.