travel_exploreDiscovery · Digestion

🍽️ Digestion

What happens to food after I swallow it? Simple, true digestion 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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What happens to food after I swallow it? Revealexpand_more

When you swallow, food slides down a stretchy tube into your stomach, where it gets mashed and mixed into a soupy mush. From there it moves into your intestines, long winding tubes that soak up the good bits your body needs and send the leftovers out as poop.

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Talk about itWhich part of eating do you think your body finds the hardest work?

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Did you know?Your intestines are so long that if you stretched them out flat, they would be several times taller than you are.

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Try itEat a bite slowly and notice the journey begin: your teeth crush it, your spit softens it, then a swallow sends it on its way.

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🍽️🔊Why does my tummy rumble?💩Why do we poop?🍎Why do we need to eat food?

🤖Still curious?How long does food take to travel all the way through the body?arrow_forward

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Why does my tummy rumble? Revealexpand_more

That rumbling sound comes from your stomach and intestines squeezing air and juices around inside you. It often gets louder when your stomach is empty, which can be its way of reminding you it is nearly time to eat.

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Talk about itDoes your tummy rumble more before breakfast or before dinner?

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Did you know?The rumble even has a fancy name, borborygmus, which sounds a lot like the noise it makes.

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Try itPut your ear gently against someone's tummy after a meal and listen for the gurgles working away.

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🍽️🍽️What happens to food after I swallow it?💩Why do we poop?💧Why do we get thirsty?

🤖Still curious?Do animals' tummies rumble like ours do?arrow_forward

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Why do we poop? Revealexpand_more

After your body has soaked up all the good parts of your food, the bits it cannot use are left over. Your body packs those leftovers together and pushes them out as poop, which is a normal and healthy way to keep the inside of you clean.

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Talk about itWhy do you think our bodies cannot use every single part of our food?

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Did you know?The colour of poop mostly comes from the food you eat and the juices your body uses to break it down.

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Try itEating fruit, vegetables and drinking water helps everything move along. See how many colours of fruit and veg you can eat in a day.

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🍽️🍽️What happens to food after I swallow it?🔊Why does my tummy rumble?🍎Why do we need to eat food?

🤖Still curious?Why does some food make us need the toilet faster than others?arrow_forward

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Why do we get thirsty? Revealexpand_more

Your body is mostly made of water, and you lose a little all the time when you sweat, breathe and go to the toilet. Feeling thirsty is your brain's clever way of telling you to drink and top your body back up before it runs low.

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Talk about itWhen in the day do you feel the most thirsty?

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Did you know?More than half of your whole body is water, and even your bones hold some.

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Try itNotice how much thirstier you feel after running around than after sitting quietly. Your body used more water.

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🍽️🍽️What happens to food after I swallow it?💩Why do we poop?🩸What is blood for?

🤖Still curious?What happens in our bodies if we do not drink enough water?arrow_forward

🍽️ Digestion

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