Human Body

Learning About the Human Body

Children have a hard time understanding how their bodies work inside because it is not something that they can see. They learn a lot -early on- by looking, touching, and smelling things. When they don’t have access to the inner workings of the human body, things within can be a mystery.

As adults, we understand why things may bleed, and as long as the bleeding is minimal, we rarely freak out about it. However, to a child, blood can be something very scary indeed. The more they know about how the body works, the less they will have to fear when something minor happens to them.

I know that my daughter screams her head off when even the smallest amount of blood comes out of her body. This has made her losing her teeth a very trying ordeal. I know most of her fear comes from not understanding how the human body works. She does not understand what blood does, why we have it, and even why it can come out of the body at certain times.

The human body relies on blood for many things. She knows we do need it to live, and perhaps that is why she freaks out so much when it appears that it is coming out. There is a certain survival instinct that goes with the fear, but some bleeding is normal and aids in healing.

Other aspects of the human body are also a mystery to the young. They may not understand why they eat, and what happens inside when they do. They don’t understand why they feel hungry, and what food really does.

If they can learn about the roles of food and water within the human body, they can try to make better food choices. This may not be apparent at first, but it can help them out in the long run. That, along with your good example, can lead to a healthier life as they age into adulthood.

The human body does much more than the examples above, and most parents know the basics. Some children are naturally curious about the body and what it does, while others may not give it much thought.

It is naturally easier to teach the curious child about the human body, but it should be mentioned on occasion to those that seem to have less interest. If they can have at least some understanding of how their bodies work, they may want to take better care of themselves, and they may be more at ease when something strange happens.