Make no “bones” about it. Your body is full of bones, which makes up your skeleton. Let’s learn more in “Your Amazing Body – The Skeleton!

Skeleton Jokes

1. Why didn’t the skeleton dance at the party? (He had no body to dance with!)
2. Why do skeletons drink milk? (It’s good for your bones!)
3. Why did the skeleton go to the Mechanic Shop? ( For body work!)
4. What do you call a skeleton who won’t work? (Lazy bones!)
5. How do skeletons contact each other? (By tele-bone!)

 Skeletons Are No Joke!

Along with other body systems (like the Digestive System for food and the Breathing System with lungs), you have a Skeletal System of bones. Without your skeleton for support, you would flop over like a rag doll! In this bone system, stringy, stretchy tendons and ligaments connect bones to your body.

The tendons connect bones to bones. The ligaments attach bones to muscles.

Your Bones Can Work

Each bone in your body has a job to do. Hard bones surround and protect soft parts inside. The skull bone protects the brain. Your rib bones protect your heart and lungs. Bones are hard because they are made of minerals. The outside material of a bone is solid. The inside material of a bone is spongy to allow body movement and to let blood flow through the bone. At the center of a bone is a soft marrow material. Yellow marrow is mostly fat cells. Red marrow produces blood cells.

Your Bones Can Bend

Joints are where the bones connect so you can move. Shoulders and hips have a ‘ball and socket’ joint that allows a wide range of arm and leg movement. Shoulder joints allow your arms to reach up and down, and wave around in a circle. The leg joints let you kick, march, jump and dance.

Imagine that you have no joints You would be stiff and have to move like a robot!

Did You Know?

• Your bones grow until you are about 20 years old
• The red marrow can produce 5,000,000,000 blood cells each day
• The smallest bone is in your ear
• The longest bone is the ‘thigh’, upper leg bone
• A bone doctor is an Orthopedic doctor

Your Bones Can Heal

Bone can break. Bones can heal. If you break your arm, the doctor will put a protective cast around the damaged area to keep it straight while it heals. You will have to keep your arm in a sling. Your friends will want to sign their name on your cast.

Your body will go to work and start healing the wound. Blood will rush to the area to bring new blood cells. New soft tissue will start to form. New bone materials will fuse the gap in the broken area.

Your mother will tell you not to run around. The broken bone will grow back together. The doctor will take the cast off and you can play again.

Good Food for Good Bones

The three most important factors for healthy bones are ‘Calcium’, Vitamin D, and Exercise.

Calcium is an element found in dairy foods, like milk, yogurt, and cheese. Other foods with Calcium are: leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds, and fish.

Milk is usually ‘fortified’ with the addition of Vitamin D, which helps the body absorb and use Calcium. Vitamin D from the sun is absorbed in your body when you play outside. It is even called the ‘Sunshine Vitamin. Many foods are ‘fortified’. That means they have added Vitamin D. Milk, cereals, and orange juice are often fortified with Vitamin D.

Make No Bones About This!

(“We’re not kidding around about healthy bones”).

Your skeleton is a growing, living thing within you. But, don’t be scared. Take care of your skeleton and it will ‘support’ you the rest of your life!

 One Last Skeleton Joke:

 “What food did the skeleton order at the restaurant?” (spare ribs!)

Our skeletons are super-cool and super important. Tell us what you think about bones in the comment section!

Educators, be sure to check out our Skeleton FREE pdf for educational materials.