This human body hangman game for kids has 25 hidden human body words to guess one letter at a time, with six balloons in place of a gallows. Tap letters or type them: right letters fill in the word, and each wrong letter pops a balloon. The words run from 3 to 8 letters, including heart, lungs and brain and ear, and every word in this set is human body, so the category is your first clue. It is a free human body word game that needs no sign-up, works on phones and tablets, and comes with a printable word list with clues.
Human body hangman game: see how it plays
The game below starts a new human body word as soon as the page opens, and a round ends when you find the word or lose all six balloons. The printable human body hangman word list has all 25 words with a clue and empty letter boxes, and the pictures show the game at the start, in the middle of a round and after a win.
How the human body hangman game works
- Guess a letter: tap a letter on the keyboard below the word, or type it on a computer. You can only try each letter once.
- Right letters appear: every place the letter is used in the word fills in.
- Wrong letters pop a balloon: you have six balloons, so six wrong guesses ends the round, and the game shows the word.
- Keep a streak: each word you find adds one to your streak, and your best streak is saved on this device only.
- Change the category: use the buttons above the game to switch to animals, fruits and vegetables, space, countries, the human body, sports, weather or spelling words.
It plays like hangman, the classic pencil-and-paper word guessing game described in Wikipedia’s hangman article, but a basket of balloons replaces the hanging picture, so it suits younger children and classrooms.
Human body word game: all 25 words with clues
The list is the same every time, so you can study it before you play or use the clues as riddles. The table gives the number of letters, a clue and the body part type for each word.
| No. | Word | Letters | Clue | Body part type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | heart | 5 | The muscle that pumps blood around your body | Organ, circulatory system |
| 2 | lungs | 5 | Two organs you use to breathe | Organ, respiratory system |
| 3 | brain | 5 | The organ in your head that controls your body and thoughts | Organ, nervous system |
| 4 | stomach | 7 | The organ where food is mixed with acid and broken down | Organ, digestive system |
| 5 | skeleton | 8 | All the bones in your body together | Skeletal system |
| 6 | muscle | 6 | Tissue that tightens so you can move | Muscular system |
| 7 | elbow | 5 | The joint in the middle of your arm | Joint |
| 8 | knee | 4 | The joint in the middle of your leg | Joint |
| 9 | ankle | 5 | The joint that connects your foot to your leg | Joint |
| 10 | wrist | 5 | The joint between your hand and your arm | Joint |
| 11 | shoulder | 8 | The joint where your arm joins your body | Joint |
| 12 | finger | 6 | One of the digits on your hand | Hand |
| 13 | thumb | 5 | The short, thick digit that helps you grip | Hand |
| 14 | eyebrow | 7 | A line of hair above each eye | Face |
| 15 | tongue | 6 | The muscle in your mouth that helps you taste and talk | Mouth, sense of taste |
| 16 | tooth | 5 | A hard white part in your mouth used to bite and chew | Mouth, digestive system |
| 17 | skin | 4 | The largest organ, covering your whole body | Organ, covers the body |
| 18 | blood | 5 | The red liquid that carries oxygen around your body | Circulatory system |
| 19 | bones | 5 | The hard parts that make up your skeleton | Skeletal system |
| 20 | liver | 5 | A large organ that cleans your blood and helps digest food | Organ, digestive system |
| 21 | kidney | 6 | One of two bean-shaped organs that filter your blood | Organ, urinary system |
| 22 | spine | 5 | The line of bones down your back, also called the backbone | Skeletal system |
| 23 | skull | 5 | The bone that protects your brain | Skeletal system |
| 24 | nose | 4 | The part of your face you use to smell | Face, sense of smell |
| 25 | ear | 3 | The part of your head you use to hear | Head, sense of hearing |
Body parts by type
| Body part type | Words | Which ones |
|---|---|---|
| Organ | 7 | heart, lungs, brain, stomach, skin, liver and kidney |
| Joint | 5 | elbow, knee, ankle, wrist and shoulder |
| Skeletal system | 4 | skeleton, bones, spine and skull |
| Hand | 2 | finger and thumb |
| Face | 2 | eyebrow and nose |
| Mouth | 2 | tongue and tooth |
| Muscular system | 1 | muscle |
| Circulatory system | 1 | blood |
| Head | 1 | ear |
Wikipedia’s human body article gives an overview of the organs and systems named in this list.
Word guess game strategy for human body hangman: the best letters
Good hangman players guess the letters that appear in the most words. In this list, 49 of the 134 letters in the list are vowels (37%). These letters are used in the greatest number of the 25 words:
| Letter | Words that contain it | Times used altogether |
|---|---|---|
| E | 16 of 25 | 19 |
| N | 12 of 25 | 12 |
| S | 11 of 25 | 11 |
| O | 10 of 25 | 12 |
| L | 9 of 25 | 10 |
| R | 8 of 25 | 8 |
| T | 7 of 25 | 8 |
| I | 7 of 25 | 7 |
- Five words are joints (elbow, knee, ankle, wrist and shoulder), so common letters such as L, E and K are good first guesses.
- Many body words are short: ear, nose, skin, knee, tooth, thumb and blood have only three to five letters.
- Four words are bones or bone groups (skeleton, bones, spine and skull), so S and K are useful early guesses.
Double letters are a clue too. In this list, knee, tooth, blood and skull all have a letter used twice in a row.
The length gives you a head start too. The words are 3 to 8 letters long, and the longest are skeleton and shoulder. The shortest is ear. Here is how many words there are of each length:
| Length | Words | The words |
|---|---|---|
| 3 letters | 1 | ear |
| 4 letters | 3 | knee, skin, nose |
| 5 letters | 13 | heart, lungs, brain, elbow, ankle, wrist, thumb, tooth, blood, bones, liver, spine, skull |
| 6 letters | 4 | muscle, finger, tongue, kidney |
| 7 letters | 2 | stomach, eyebrow |
| 8 letters | 2 | skeleton, shoulder |
Hangman for kids: learning ideas
- Point to it: after each word, point to the body part on yourself and say what it does.
- Trace your outline: trace a child on a long sheet of paper and label the words from the list.
- Feel your heartbeat: find your pulse at the wrist and count the beats in 15 seconds, then multiply by 4.
- Joint bending: bend each joint in the list and discover which ones bend one way and which move in many ways.
The human body hangman game also builds spelling, because children must think about which letters go in which order. The Common Core grade 3 language standards expect children to use spelling patterns, and a word game is a friendly way to practice them. For spelling lists to match, try the spelling worksheet maker.
Human body word game riddles
Turn the clues from the human body hangman word list into riddles for a group. Read the clue, let children guess, then check against the game:
- The muscle that pumps blood around your body. Which one is it? Answer: heart.
- Two organs you use to breathe. Which one is it? Answer: lungs.
- The organ in your head that controls your body and thoughts. Which one is it? Answer: brain.
- The organ where food is mixed with acid and broken down. Which one is it? Answer: stomach.
- All the bones in your body together. Which one is it? Answer: skeleton.
Short, frequent rounds of human body hangman work better than one long session, because each new word is a small success. Play a few rounds, check the word list, and see how long your streak can grow.
Human body hangman game: frequently asked questions
Which words are in the human body hangman game?
There are 25 words, from organs such as heart, lungs, brain, stomach, liver and kidney to joints such as elbow, knee, ankle, wrist and shoulder, and parts such as skin, blood, bones, spine and skull.
How many balloons do you get in the human body hangman game?
Six. Each wrong letter pops one balloon, and when all six are gone the round ends and the word is shown.
Can I choose another category in the human body hangman game?
Yes. Use the buttons above the game to switch between animals, fruits and vegetables, space, countries, the human body, sports, weather and spelling words.
Is the human body hangman game free, and do kids need an account?
Yes, it is free, and no account is needed. Best scores are saved only in the browser on this device.
Does the human body hangman game work on phones and tablets?
Yes. The game is built for touch first and also works with a mouse or keyboard on a computer.
What is a good first letter to guess?
Guess E, N and S first. They appear in the most words in this list, so they give you the most information.