Learn something new everyday: / knitbiology
Have you ever thought that sheep eyeballs and frogs were a bit much to sacrifice for the sake of 12-year-olds learning science? Don’t worry; we thought the same. That’s why we can skip the formaldehyde and get the experience of anatomy through a different medium—knitted dissections.
These fun toys can replace the gooey, uncomfortable mess of dissecting animals, especially when not all children have the stomach for it. Not only that, but younger children can experience and play around with anatomy at a younger age. Why inhibit your child’s ability to explore the human body until they are well into their schooling years?
Emily Stoneking is the creator of these kits that can be put together yourself, calling her kits aKNITomy. All of the pieces in the collection are completely knitted, safe from strange smells, things that ooze, and a sore sight on the eyes. Stoneking has taken a lot of time herself to research anatomical structures in the human body and in different animals’ bodies, in order to make her dissections more realistic. Even if you are not partial to your memories of dissecting the frog, she also creates an alien (human) dissection, which can all be found on her Etsy page.
The kits have been reviewed by science teachers as being very detailed, and very reliable—all the pieces mentioned were in the kits in order to make the knit anatomy masterpiece yourself. The initial dissection of a frog can shock many students, and turn them off to the idea of any biology-related career. Instead of pushing these students to get their hands dirty in something they would rather not participate in, these knit kits can be the perfect alternative to maintain positive feelings towards science and biology in high school.