An anatomy & physiology lesson with a 3 year old

Today while I was trying to get some homework done (I let Dave sleep in so B was in the office with me) I decided I'd try my hand at teaching B about the important inner workings of the human body. :)

A few years ago before I started nursing school Dave and I were in the dollar store and I found this little plastic guy with actual innards. We're talking differently colored organs that you could take out and look at. Seriously, it was the best $1 I've ever spent. I was so dang happy to have found that little guy! (My story has a point, I swear) So I took him home, named him Darwin ('cause it sounded cool) and he has sat on my desk ever since.

So today while I'm working on a case study for clinicals Bradley hops up on my desk and wants to play with Darwin. Enter my teaching opportunity. We open up Darwin and spill out his guts. ;) Cool, huh? I pick each piece up and tell him what it is, what it's called, and how it works....in 3 year old terms, of course. I'm not going to get into the cells and hormones and all that jazz with him quite yet. So I go through all the organs and as I hold up each one he tells me what they look like to him. With a straight face. Very matter of fact. Seriously, it cracked me up. So I figured I had to share with the world what the human body is actually composed of. So here, ladies and gentlemen, is your daily anatomy lesson:

1. Small Intestines: It's not intestines at all. In fact, it's a strawberry. So enjoy.

2. Large Intestines: Ladies and gentlemen, this is nothing more than an ordinary sea turtle.

3. Heart: This is actually a heart. So that's good. At least we can still pump blood to the sea turtle and the strawberry and all that jazz.

4. Spleen/pancreas: A blueberry.

5. Bladder: This does not hold urine. It is a lemon.

6. Liver: This is actually a piece of Bradley's shirt that got torn off.

7. Stomach: A whale. Who'd of thunk it?

8. Trachea: It's a sword. Duh.

9. Kidneys: Another blueberry.

10. Lungs: Ok, I won't tell you what he said they were at first, but if you have any kind of an imagination I'm pretty sure you can guess. ;) His second answer was an orange. So I'll stick with that. lol

So there you have it. Our body is a fantastic web of fruit, swords, shirts, and sea mammals! Coolio!