The Heart and Healthy Exercise: Free KS2 Science Worksheet

What this worksheet teaches

This worksheet focuses on two linked ideas from the Year 6 'Animals, including humans' programme of study. First, that the heart is a muscular organ that pumps blood around the body through a network of blood vessels, together forming the circulatory system. Second, that regular physical activity strengthens the heart, improves how efficiently the body delivers oxygen, and is one of several lifestyle factors that affect health. The colouring task gives children time to study the shape of the heart and the large vessels leaving it, while the short-answer questions ask them to put the key facts into their own words.

How the heart and exercise are connected

When a child runs, jumps or plays, their muscles need more oxygen. The heart responds by beating faster and harder so that oxygen-rich blood reaches the muscles more quickly, which is why a pulse speeds up during activity. Over time, regular exercise makes the heart muscle stronger and more efficient, so it can pump more blood with each beat. Helping children connect a familiar experience, such as being out of breath after running, to what is happening inside the body makes the science concrete and memorable. Some children worry that a racing heart means something is wrong. Reassure them that a faster pulse during play is the heart doing its job, and that it settles again within a few minutes of resting.

Using this sheet at home or in the classroom

For a classroom lesson, the colouring activity works well as a settling task while you introduce vocabulary such as 'pump', 'blood vessels' and 'circulatory system'. The short-answer questions can then be completed independently or in pairs and used for assessment for learning. At home, families might pause between questions to take a pulse before and after a short burst of star jumps, turning the worksheet into a simple, safe practical investigation. A word bank on the sheet supports children who need help with the key terms. When they colour, explain that blue is only a diagram code for blood low in oxygen: real blood is always red, darker when it is low in oxygen.

Extending the learning

Once children are confident, you can deepen the work by asking them to draw the path blood takes from the heart to the lungs and back, or to list other lifestyle factors named in the curriculum, namely diet, drugs and overall lifestyle, and discuss why each matters. Linking the heart to the lungs reinforces the wider 'transport of nutrients, water and oxygen' objective and prepares children for secondary-school biology. Encouraging children to set a personal active-play goal also supports the broader aim of recognising the impact of exercise on the way their bodies function.

Frequently asked questions