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When I first heard that there are more stars than there are grains of sand on all beaches in the world, I went on a mission to count all the grains out there to see if it’s true. Needless to say, "the world" was the size of my yard and I was five or so. You see where I’m going.

The truth is, kids are naturally curious and always ready to soak up the info they cannot entirely grasp. Tell ‘em about the Bermuda Triangle, and I guarantee they will be pulling all-nighters to solve the biggest puzzle on the planet.

So when one Redditor posted the question “What are some cool facts to tell a 5-year-old?" on r/AskReddit, people rolled up their sleeves. 1,400 comments later, the replies are in, and honestly, some of these may work on adults too.

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#1

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones When they die, ants release pheromones attracting other ants to come and carry their dead bodies away to their graveyards.

theloneshewolf , wikipedia Report

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Maximilian Stern
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

IIRC if you were to douse a living ant with said pheromone it would end up being carried off to the graveyard anyway, despite it still being alive.

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#2

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones A group of zebras is called a dazzle and a group of giraffes is called a journey

Magicbean96 , wikipedia Report

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#3

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones Otters sometimes hold hands to sleep when in the water, so that they don't drift apart when floating in the sea

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Kids are naturally curious as they have that thirst for exploring how things work in life. No wonder some of these hard-to-believe facts can seriously blow their minds.

It turns out that not only is being curious a valuable trait on its own, it also contributes to academic achievement. This research has shown that cultivation of curiosity in children is linked to later aptitude in science.

And this 2018 study has shown that the more curious the child, the more likely they may be to perform better in school—regardless of economic background.

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#4

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones Dogs can tell when your coming home by how much of your scent is left in the house if you have a daily routine

BrettyWhite33 , wikipedia Report

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#5

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones You're more likely to be bitten by a shark AND struck by lightning than win the lottery.

friendsforfood , wikipedia Report

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tuzdayschild
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Which is why my dollar is still in my wallet where it belongs.

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#6

A single little brown bat can eat up to 1000 mosquitoes in a single hour.

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Bored Panda reached out to Kathy Kinsner, the Senior Manager of Parenting Resources at ZERO TO THREE, which brings leaders in the fields of medicine, mental health, and social science to work on a wide range of issues impacting young children and their families.

She has shared some of her insights about the curious minds of children and what parents can do to nurture the hunger for the world around. “The more curious children are, the better they do academically in reading and math once they’re in school,” Kathy explained. Moreover, two traits, initiative and curiosity, are actually goals of early childhood education. Kathy said that these two are the essential qualities of life-long learners.

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#7

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones Astronomer here! Clap your hands once, and then clap them again a second later. The two claps were actually done about 30,000 miles apart thanks to the Earth's motion in space!

Andromeda321 , robcantor Report

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That Guy
That Guy
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My brain now knows that fact, and doesnt want to process it

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#8

The smell of rain is caused by gases released by bacteria in the earth in reaction to rainwater. It's called petrichor, petri meaning stone.

theloneshewolf Report

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#9

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones Sharks don't actually like eating people (we apparently taste bad to them), that's why most shark bites stop there. Most sharks bite people out of curiosity or because the person unwittingly provoked the shark

GingerMcginGinII , wikipedia Report

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And as all young children are driven to learn more about the world as they “examine every bug and blade of grass when they’re out for a walk, turn a light switch on and off to see what happens,” parents should do what they can to encourage the natural sense of wonder.

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Kathy adds that setting “some limits to make sure kids are safe (and that our living space isn’t complete chaos)” is fine, but other than that, just go for it.
#10

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones Turtles can breathe through their butts!

Ringtailtooter13 , wikipedia Report

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#11

Every ‘c’ in ‘Pacific Ocean’ is pronounced differently

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#12

If you make an animal sound at the animal, chances are it will answer you back.

Turkeys are a good example, they answer almost every time. Sheep are quite regular as well.

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Monday
Monday
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One of my cats do this....the other just stare at me like I'm a weirdo...which is fair considering I'm standing in my bathroom meowing at a group of cats.

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When it comes to the endless streams of “Why?” that can sometimes be quite exhausting, Kathy suggests that parents be glad they’re asking and “know that this stage won’t last forever.”

It’s great if you can slow down and give an answer, but sometimes, when you don’t have the luxury, you might say: “Hold that thought. Let me pay the parking attendant and I’ll answer you when we’re on the highway.” Another way is to reply to “Why?” with an answer like: “What do you think?” or “How can we find out?”

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#13

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones Octopuses have 3 hearts Plus they have 8 arms, not tentacles And they have blue blood

ReaperWright88 , wikipedia Report

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#14

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones Pluto hasn't completed a lap around the sun since it was discovered

Suckygarbanzo , wikipedia Report

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#15

Elephants have special graveyards and mourn their fellow elephants when they die.

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#16

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones Birds like chickens descended from dinosaurs. Watch them look at their chicken nuggets in absolute awe

Sqweedward , wikipedia Report

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Chris Arlott
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

wait until they realize that the dino shaped chicken nuggets complete an evolutionary cycle :D

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#17

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones The fear of long words is known as hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

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Midget
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Any time you tell people you have this phobia you face your fears...

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#18

When you look up at the night sky and see a star, it's because a little particle of light called a photon shot out of the star and traveled across the vast distance of space and time to land safely in your eye. You're catching a little bit of ancient star whenever you see one

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Terd Fergison
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And some of those stars already died thousands of years ago, but you are just seeing their light now.

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#19

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones There are butterflies that mimic the pattern of Monarch butterflies to avoid being eaten by predators because Monarch butterflies are poisonous and predators avoid eating them. In nature, this is called mimicry.

theloneshewolf , wikipedia Report

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tuzdayschild
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sooo...is that a monarch in the photo or the other butterfly? Hmmmm?

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#20

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones The oxygen that we breathe is the same oxygen that has been around since ancient times. In other words, the air you breathe may very well be the same air breathed by a dinosaur

theloneshewolf , wikipedia Report

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Rabbit Carrot
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oxygen has been around for a very long time and will never run out (well not until the planet burns up via heat death due to an expanding sun). Breathable air for humans though? Probably about 50,000 years the way we’re going. We’ll be the only species to make ourselves extinct.

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#21

Brocolli is man-made. It was bred out of wild cabbage by human beings. It didn't appear naturally until human beings created it

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Ruth Mayfly
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Brocolli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, romanesco, kale and kohl rabi have all been bred from wild cabbage.

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#22

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones Humans can run for longer than any other animal.

GingerMcGinginII , wikipedia Report

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#23

Sharks have been around longer than trees have.

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#24

There are species of jellyfish that are thought by scientists to be immortal. The only way they can die is by disease or injury.

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Shelp
Shelp
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This "fun fact" implies another one: explain to your 5 year old that, except for some jellyfishes, every other living being, including the close family, will eventually die

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#25

Some ants can learn to farm aphids for their honey as humans farm cows for milk

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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes! they move the Aphids to the nicest part of the plant so the aphids will be happy and produce

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#26

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones There are numbers below zero

Sergeant_Dimitri , wikipedia Report

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Mark Johanen
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Do most people, even children, really find the existence of negative numbers amazing and mind-blowing? Wow, wait until we start talking about fractions.

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#27

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones A person gives off more heat than a person-sized piece of the sun.

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#28

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones We will never experience tomorrow as by the time it's "tomorrow", it will be today

Thanos696969 , Universal Pictures Report

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#29

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones By the standards of the universe,you are both stronger and weaker than millions of things

notsofancylad , wikipedia Report

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4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Every point of light (about 3000 in total) in that photo is a galaxy. The photo was taken by Hubble and it only covered a patch of sky the size of a tennis ball held at arms length. Imagine how many more galaxies there are out there. Blows your mind really.

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#30

People Are Sharing Mind-Blowing Facts Fit For 5-Year-Olds And Here's 30 Of The Most Interesting Ones You can't lick your elbow

CriticallyNormal , pewdiepie Report

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Monday
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This needs to be reworded to "most people can't lick their elbow". There are a large number of people who can.

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Note: this post originally had 83 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

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