Have you ever wondered, how our muscles make us move?
Today we have a super craft to help you learn!
This craft involves making a leg that kicks! That’s right a kicking leg. Perhaps not as big or as strong as a real leg. It will however, help you to understand the mechanics of how your muscles move your leg.
Here is what you will need:
• 1 piece of cardboard (can be any old bit of cardboard you’ve got in your recycling pile)
• 1 piece of red paper
• Scissors
• String
• 2 Cable ties
• 10 Brads also known as paper fasteners ( 10 is extra in case we lose some along the way)
• 4 Bobbins
• Something from the cupboard to fasten your leg to (I found that a paper towel holder worked well for me)
• Printed template from the website, you can find it here
Let's Get Crafting!
1. Cut out the template and stick it on your cardboard. Now just cut around the template to get your cardboard pieces.
2. Mark out the dots and use the push pin to make the holes. Follow the template to know where your brads need to go to connect the parts of your leg.
3. Use the big part of the template to cut out some muscles from your red paper. Then stick them on the top and bottom of the thigh (these are the quadricep and hamstring muscles).
4. Now add your bobbins and brads to the marked spots. These will be the rollers for your string to make the leg move. Measure and cut your string. About 60cm should do, you can make it shorter if you need to.
5. Attach the pieces of string to the brad at the ankle. Then follow the picture to wrap around the bobbins.
6. Decorate your leg however you wish! It can be doing absolutely anything. Then use your zip ties to attach your leg to your item from the cupboard. Then kick away!
How it works:
Pull the top string
The string becomes shorter, this represents the muscle (quadricep) shortening. When the muscle gets shorter it brings the lower leg up in a kicking motion.
Pull the bottom string
This string becomes shorter, this represents the muscle (hamstring) shortening. When the hamstring shortens it brings the foot back down.
When we contract (shorten) our muscles then the angle of the joint becomes smaller. This brings the two opposing sides closer together.
The muscles on each side of the joint perform the opposite action to each other. This is how we move our body. One muscle moves the joint one way, the opposing muscle moves the joint back the other way.
If you would like to learn more about how the body works, check out my
channel for some fun videos here.
How did you go with this craft? I would love to see what you have made! Get in touch with me through this website or on social media and send me some lovely pictures of your creations. Your craft may just make it into our hall of fame!
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