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🧠 Animal minds

Which animals use tools? Simple, true animal minds facts for young children, each with a fun fact, a tiny activity and a question to talk about together.

Tap a question to reveal the answer, share the fun fact, try the tiny activity, then talk about it together.

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Which animals use tools? Revealexpand_more

Using a tool means picking up an object to get a job done, and quite a few animals do it. Chimpanzees poke sticks into nests to fish out insects, some crows bend wires into hooks, and sea otters crack shells open with a favourite rock. It shows that clever problem-solving is not just a human trick.

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Talk about itIf you were an animal, what tool would you most want to be able to use?

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Did you know?Some crows can solve puzzles about as well as a young child.

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Try itTry picking up a small treat from a narrow cup using only a spoon or stick. That is animal tool use in action.

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🧠❤️Do animals have feelings?🧠How good is animal memory?📣Can animals really talk to each other?

🤖Still curious?How do young animals learn to use tools?arrow_forward

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Do animals have feelings? Revealexpand_more

Many animals seem to feel emotions a lot like ours. Dogs get excited, elephants appear to grieve for lost family, and rats will help a trapped friend. We cannot ask them how they feel, but their brains and behaviour give us plenty of clues that their inner world is real.

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Talk about itHow can you tell when an animal is happy, scared or sad?

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Did you know?Elephants sometimes gently touch the bones of relatives that died long ago.

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Try itWatch a pet or an animal video and try to name the emotion you think it is showing. What told you?

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🧠🔧Which animals use tools?🧠How good is animal memory?📣Can animals really talk to each other?

🤖Still curious?Do animals feel pain the same way we do?arrow_forward

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How good is animal memory? Revealexpand_more

Some animals have amazing memories. Squirrels remember where they buried thousands of nuts, elephants recall watering holes from decades ago, and certain birds hide seeds in hundreds of spots and find them again months later. A good memory can be the difference between eating and going hungry.

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Talk about itWhat is something you are really good at remembering?

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Did you know?A little bird called the Clark's nutcracker can remember thousands of hiding places at once.

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Try itHide five small objects around a room, wait ten minutes, then see how many you can find from memory.

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🧠🔧Which animals use tools?❤️Do animals have feelings?📣Can animals really talk to each other?

🤖Still curious?Do animals remember things the same way people do?arrow_forward

schedule3 minstarHardgroupTogether

Can animals really talk to each other? Revealexpand_more

Animals do not use words like we do, but many share detailed messages in their own ways. Whales sing long songs that carry for miles, prairie dogs have different calls for different dangers, and honeybees dance to point the way to flowers. It is a kind of language, just not made of words.

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Talk about itIf you could understand one animal's language, which would you choose?

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Did you know?Some prairie dog calls seem to describe the colour and size of the animal they warn about.

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Try itTry to tell a friend danger, over there using only sounds and movements, no words. How clear can you make it?

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🧠❤️Do animals have feelings?🔧Which animals use tools?🐝How do bees tell each other where flowers are?

🤖Still curious?Can any animal learn to understand human words?arrow_forward

🧠 Animal minds

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