Make sure to use simple language to explain the brain. Try using analogies to make things clearer for children. The brain keeps growing until we are about 20 years old. This doesn’t mean that we stop being able to learn new things, though! The neurons in the brain can keep forming pathways throughout our lives. Every time you learn something new, your brain changes its structure. This is because of the neurons forming new pathways to make accessing and using the new information faster and easier. The brain is part of the nervous system. Along with the spinal cord, it connects to all the nerves that travel throughout the body. When you touch something hot, or see something beautiful, that information travels through your body and into your brain. This helps us to understand what is going on around us, which informs us how we ought to respond. Try mental workouts, too. Things like puzzles and reading are great for keeping your brain fit and strong. And you don’t even need to get off the sofa to get in a great brain workout!

Learning about the brain is a really fun part of biology. It can be a bit confusing, though – there are lots of long words to remember, plus even brain experts (or neuroscientists) don't know everything about the brain! Here are some tips for teaching children about the brain: Designed by our professional medical illustrators and exclusive to AnatomyStuff, the brain anatomy poster shows the following, fully labelled anatomical details: Work out at the Brain Gym ! This is a programme of physical movements and exercises that help you to engage your brain. It can help to reduce stress and improve your ability to learn. For example, learning how to ride a bike shows how neurons form pathways. The first time someone gets on a bike, they have to think very carefully about how they move. How do they pedal? How do they balance? It’s a lot of hard work. But after a lot of practice, it becomes much easier. Eventually, they don’t have to think about it all. That’s because the neurons have successfully formed a pathway that tell their body how to ride the bike without consciously thinking about it. The brain also keeps working while we are asleep. It controls our dreams and sorts through everything that we have learnt and experienced that day to decide what is important and what it can forget about.The brain stem also receives all of the information sent from nerves in the rest of the body. It decides what to do with them. This is a big task – we have so much information whizzing around our bodies all the time that even a supercomputer couldn’t keep up with it. How to keep your brain in shape If you found this resource helpful, why not also take a look at our KS2 Parts of the Brain PowerPoint?

The nervous system is made up of millions of neurons, which are microscopic cells. They can join together with other neurons to form connections called pathways which transmit information. These pathways can get stronger the more that they are used. Organ Function Matching Cards – Want to test your child’s learning about the human body and its organs? These cards make a fun matching game out of this topic. Half of the cards have an image of an organ in the human body, and the other half have brief descriptions of an organ’s function. Children will need to make matching pairs of cards to win the game. The brain also uses those nerves to tell our muscles what to do. This is how we move. Our brain sends the signals, our muscles receive them, and suddenly we are walking or talking or stretching. We hope your brain has enjoyed reading all about itself! If you want more information about the brain for kids, take a look at the teacher-made resources we have selected below.The brain is 80% liquid. This is why we have to drink lots of water. If we get dehydrated, our brains don’t work as well. The brain anatomy poster is laminated and wipeable marker pens can be used to make notations. Our range of anatomical wall charts make perfect displays for use by professionals in a clinic and for students. The Amazing Brain Worksheet . This includes a fact sheet with a picture of the brain that children can colour in. There are also bonus questions to test their learning about the brain. You might not think about your brain very often, but when you do think about it, it’s pretty amazing. The human brain is in charge of everything that your body does – even the things that you don’t think about, like breathing or keeping your heart pumping. It’s like an extremely powerful computer, storing our memories and controlling our thoughts and bodies. Eat healthy foods. The brain needs lots of vitamins and minerals to function properly. Fatty fish, like salmon, is very good, as are blueberries and broccoli. Maybe not all at the same time though.