K to Grade 2 • Human Body Series

Digestive System
As soon as your mouth starts watering for that delicious apple you’re about to
KidsHealth.org/classroom
pop into your mouth, digestion has begun! Your digestive system works hard to
give your body energy from the food you eat. These activities will help your
Teacher’s Guide students learn the parts of the digestive system and how they work together.

This guide includes: Related KidsHealth Links

• Standards
• Related Links Articles for Kids:
• Discussion Questions Your Digestive System
• Activities for Students KidsHealth.org/en/kids/digestive-system.html
• Reproducible Materials Movie: Digestive System
KidsHealth.org/en/kids/dsmovie.html

Word Find: Digestive System

KidsHealth.org/en/kids/bfs-dswordsearch.html
Standards
Are Your Bowels Moving?
This guide correlates with KidsHealth.org/en/kids/bowel.html
the following National Health
Education Standards: Indigestion
KidsHealth.org/en/kids/indigestion.html
Students will:
• Comprehend concepts related
What's Spit?
to health promotion and
KidsHealth.org/en/kids/spit.html
disease prevention to enhance
health.
Why Do I Burp?
KidsHealth.org/en/kids/burp.html
• Demonstrate the ability to
access valid information and
What’s Puke?
products and services to KidsHealth.org/en/kids/puke.html
enhance health.
• Demonstrate the ability to use What’s a Fart?
goal-setting skills to enhance KidsHealth.org/en/kids/fart.html
health.
• Demonstrate the ability to Go, Slow, and Whoa! A Kid's Guide to Eating Right
practice health-enhancing KidsHealth.org/en/kids/go-slow-whoa.html
behaviors and avoid or reduce
health risks. Why Drinking Water Is the Way to Go
KidsHealth.org/en/kids/water.html
• Demonstrate the ability to
advocate for personal, family,
and community health.
Discussion Questions
Note: The following questions are written in language appropriate for sharing with
your students.

1. Why do we need to eat and drink?

2. How does our food move through our bodies? What body parts do we use to
chew our food? Where does food goes after we chew it?

3. What do our bodies get from the food we eat?

National Health Education
Standards:
http://www.cdc.gov/ 4. Have you ever had belly pain? How did you feel? What made you feel better?
healthyschools/sher/standards/
index.htm

© 2016 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 K to Grade 2 • Human Body Series
Digestive System
Activities for Students
Note: The following activities are written in language appropriate for sharing with your students.

Go Fish for Fiber

Objectives:
Students will:
• Learn that fiber helps keep the digestive system healthy
• Discover which foods are good sources of fiber

Materials:
• "Go Fish for Fiber" handout
• Construction paper
• Glue
• Scissors

Class Time:
45 minutes

Activity:
Your digestive system has a hard job, breaking down all of the food you eat and supplying your body with nutrients
and energy. Eating foods that have lots of fiber can make your digestive system work better. Today we're going to play
a game to find out some foods that have lots of fiber.

First, you need to make the game cards. Take a look at the "Go Fish for Fiber" handout. You’ll see a few pages of
game cards that show different high-fiber foods. Glue each sheet to a piece of construction paper (so that you won’t
be able to see through the cards). Then cut out the cards. Now you’re ready to play!

Shuffle the cards, and then deal five cards to a friend and five to yourself. Place the rest of the cards in a stack in
between the two of you. Look at your cards. If you have any matches, put them down in front of you. If it’s your turn,
ask your friend if he or she has a card that would match one of the cards in your hand. (“Do you have an oatmeal?”) If
your friend has the card, he or she gives it to you and you put the matched pair in front of you. Then you can keep
asking your friend for another card until he or she doesn’t have the card you want. If that happens, your partner will
say, “Go Fish for Fiber!” That means you have to draw a card from the stack. Then it’s your friend’s turn. Keep
playing until there are no cards left in the deck.

Extension:
You can help your digestive system by choosing high-fiber foods when you can. Take a look at your cafeteria
menu. Using a marker, circle foods that are high in fiber, like the ones on your "Go Fish for Fiber" cards. You
can also make a poster to hang in your school cafeteria, reminding students to eat foods that are high in fiber.

© 2016 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 K to Grade 2 • Human Body Series
Digestive System
Roll Through the Digestive System!

Objectives:
Students will:
• Explore the path food takes through the digestive system
• Learn about the parts of the digestive system

Materials:
• Playing pieces
• Dice
• "Roll Through the Digestive System!" handout

Class Time:
45 minutes

Activity:
Did you ever wonder what happens to that bite of apple after you swallow it? Now’s your chance to find out! You can
play a game with a friend to follow the trip that your food makes through your body. Take a look at the "Roll Through
the Digestive System!" handout. The game board shows the parts of the digestive system that break down food to
give you nutrients and energy. Before you start playing, you and a classmate need to choose playing pieces and place
them on the start line. Take turns rolling the dice. After rolling, move that number of spaces. Follow the directions
on the space where you land. The first player to travel all the way to the finish line is the winner!

Extension:
Sometimes your digestive system doesn’t work like it should and you feel sick. Invite a gastroenterologist
(a doctor who specializes in digestive problems) to your class. Ask him or her to talk about the parts of the
digestive system and ways to keep your digestive system working well. After the visit, write a thank-you note to
the doctor, including one new fact you learned about the digestive system.

Reproducible Materials
Handout: Go Fish for Fiber
KidsHealth.org/classroom/prekto2/body/systems/digestive_handout1.pdf

Handout: Roll Through the Digestive System!

KidsHealth.org/classroom/prekto2/body/systems/digestive_handout2.pdf

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from the nonprofit Nemours Foundation. Check out www.KidsHealth.org to see the latest additions!

© 2016 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Human Body Series
Digestive System
Go Fish for Fiber
Instructions: Glue each sheet to a piece of construction paper (so that you won’t be able to see through the cards). Then cut out the cards. Shuffle the cards, and then deal
five cards to a friend and five to yourself. Place the rest of the cards in a stack in between the two of you. Look at your cards. If you have any matches, put them down in
front of you. If it’s your turn, ask your friend if he or she has a card that would match one of the cards in your hand. (“Do you have an oatmeal?”) If your friend has the
card, he or she gives it to you and you put the matched pair in front of you. Then you can keep asking your friend for another card until he or she doesn’t have the card you
want. If that happens, your partner will say, “Go Fish for Fiber!” That means you have to draw a card from the stack. Then it’s your friend’s turn. Keep playing until there
are no cards left in the deck.

© 2016 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Human Body Series
Digestive System

Go Fish for Fiber

© 2016 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Human Body Series
Digestive System

Go Fish for Fiber

© 2016 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Human Body Series
Digestive System

Go Fish for Fiber

© 2016 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Human Body Series
Digestive System
Roll Through the Digestive System!
Instructions: First, you and a classmate should choose playing pieces and place them on the start line. Take turns rolling the dice.
After rolling, move that number of spaces. Follow the directions on the space where you land. The first player to travel all the way
through the digestive system to the finish line is the winner!

Food is going to
your stomach!
Roll again.

You ate
too much!
Move back
2 spaces.

Your body is
ready to get
ride of the
waste.
Move ahead
2 spaces.

© 2016 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Human Body Series
Digesti
tiv
ve System
Name: Date:

Quiz
1. Which part of the body is not a part of the digestive system:
a) Stomach
b) Small intestine
c) Brain
d) Liver
e) Colon

2. When you chew, ________________ in your mouth helps breaks down food by making it
mushy and easy to swallow.

3. The long tube that takes food into your stomach is called the ________________.

4. These liquids come from the walls of the stomach, help break down food, and kill germs that might
be in the food you eat:
a) Esopha juices
b) Orange juices
c) Gastric juices

5. True or false: You can help your digestive system by drinking water and eating a healthy diet
that includes foods that have a lot of fiber, like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

© 2016 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Human Body Series
Digesti
tiv
ve System

Quiz Answer Key

1. Which part of the body is not a part of the digestive system:

a) Stomach
b) Small intestine
c) Brain
d) Liver
e) Colon

2. When you chew, saliva or spit in your mouth helps breaks down food by making it
mushy and easy to swallow.

3. The long tube that takes food into your stomach is called the esophagus.

4. These liquids come from the walls of the stomach, help break down food, and kill germs that might be
in the food you eat:
a) Esopha juices
b) Orange juices
c) Gastric juices

5. True or false: You can help your digestive system by drinking water and eating a healthy diet
that includes foods that have a lot of fiber, like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

© 2016 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.