Understanding the lifelong effects of prenatal alcohol exposure is a critical part of fetal alcohol syndrome education. However, conveying the real-world impact to students or young parents can be challenging without relatable, hands-on tools. That’s where the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Baby comes in. This powerful resource offers an impactful, visual way to teach the effects of alcohol on fetal development, helping learners connect classroom knowledge with real-life consequences. Whether you’re teaching parenting, child development, or health science, this simulator adds depth and realism to your lessons.
Realistic Manikin
The realistic infant manikin enhances fetal alcohol syndrome education by depicting the physical features of an infant with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). It represents common traits such as small gestational size and head, flattened mid-face, wide-set eyes, low nasal bridge, shorter nose, and other recognizable characteristics of FAS. This visual aid helps students identify and understand the physical effects of prenatal alcohol exposure.
3D Animations
To support fetal alcohol syndrome education, the manikin includes two interactive animations. One shows how alcohol passes through the placenta and enters the fetus’ bloodstream. The other is a powerful facial timelapse that illustrates how the facial features of someone with FAS change as they age. These visual tools help students connect scientific information to real-world outcomes. You can see a sample of the fetal bloodstream animation below.
Brain Comparison Models
The manikin comes with two detailed brain models—one representing a typically developing infant brain and one showing the structural effects of fetal alcohol syndrome. These side-by-side models allow students to visually and physically compare size, surface texture, and developmental differences.
Standards-Based Curriculum
To simplify lesson planning, the manikin comes with a standards-aligned fetal alcohol syndrome education curriculum. It includes lessons on prenatal alcohol exposure, the medical and educational impacts of FAS, and its lifelong effects. The full curriculum takes about three hours to teach, or you can easily pull individual lessons to supplement existing content.
See the curriculum overview here.
Additional Resources
Looking for more health and Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) teaching resources?
- Watch our free, on-demand webinar about creating an interactive child development course
- Explore all our health science teaching tools
- Discover free health science and FCS career exploration lesson plans
