Smithonian Anatomy Lab

by Smithsonian Institution

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• ASIN: B00000IT5U
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #852,993 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Product Description

Editorial Review

Wow! The human liver is huge! And the stomach is half the size of a single lung! For a three-dimensional, hands-on introduction to human anatomy and biology, this Smithsonian-endorsed kit is a winner. The 9.5-inch tall, 11-piece, plastic model goes from upper thighs to the top of the head (omitting genitals) and includes removable eyes, left brain hemisphere, heart, lungs, liver, stomach, kidneys, intestines, and chest plate. The 17-page booklet is essential to a full understanding of the model, but isn't written at a level appropriate for elementary-school readers, so plan for parental involvement. Medically correct terminology is introduced (terms such as epidermis, neuron, proximal, and inferior), and the explanations are good. Anyone who hasn't completed medical school will learn something from this kit. --Louise Carter

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great toy for a curious young mind, August 7, 1999

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Smithonian Anatomy Lab (Toy)

My 2+ year old likes this toy because he can manipulate its parts AND learn about the unseen. I like the toy because it is entertaining, durable, color-coded, educational, and can be played with again when he is older.

Right now the toy is helping me to explain where a heart beat originates and where juice disapears to. The accompaning pamplet will help me answer his questions when he is older and more sophisticated.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not much fun, May 27, 2000

By 

Mike Christie (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Smithonian Anatomy Lab (Toy)

Even though the age range shown for this toy is 8 and up, we ordered it for our daughter's fifth birthday on the basis of the positive reviews, particularly since one of them said their two-year old liked it. Now we have it, I'm not surprised: I can't see anyone much older than two thinking this is fun.

The toy is durable and the painted details are fairly good on each organ, but an 11-piece model is simply not enough. That 11 pieces includes the kidneys as a unit, the heart, stomach, and liver, the intestines (one unit) and then the lungs count as two. That's it. How do they get to eleven? Well, half the brain comes out as a unit, and there's a chest covering. I guess they count the torso itself as an item.

The pieces are good quality moulded plastic, and are designed with little slots to snap into place, but that doesn't work very well. The chest wall--the frontispiece, if you will--just clatters to the table at the slightest nudge. The other pieces go in a bit better, but apart from the shape and the paint job this feels more like putting together Mr. Potato Head than having fun while learning about the body.

The accompanying pamphlet does have real information in it, but I doubt that this toy would encourage many kids to try to read it--and as another reviewer has noted, an adult would have to be involved anyway.

My wife had had a much better version of the toy thirty-odd years ago, and was hoping this would be the same thing. We now think it was a toy called the "Visible Man" which we will be looking for on Amazon. But I'll let Jesse, our five-year-old, have the last word: she was very polite when she opened it, but later that day she said, in response to a leading question: "No, Mommy, I didn't really like it very much, I was just trying to be nice because it was a present."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun for a budding scientist, November 26, 2000

By A Customer

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Smithonian Anatomy Lab (Toy)

We have owned, as my son's call it, "Anatomy Man" for more then a year now. My oldest son was 7 and my youngest was 5 when we got it just for fun. I also bought the DK book on the human body to go with it.

My oldest son has for years put together science kits such as the "Visible Man", skeletons, and he enjoys chemisty and biology. And he loves to take it apart espically while looking though anatomy books. It gives a good sense of where things are and as an EMT I can use it to explain different illnesses and systems.

If your child is not science minded this isn't going to be exciting as it encourages scientific thinking.

And the front chest wall doesn't stay on well. The parts tend to be small (espically) the eye, so I would be very cautious around small children.