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Parent Asks For Mind-Blowing But Simple Facts That Would Satisfy A 3-Year-Old Before Bedtime, Gets 30 Responses
Kids see their parents as their superheroes and think that they know everything there is to know about the world. But being a parent to an inquisitive child is like living with the constant possibility of a pop-quiz coming up—you never know when they’ll ask you why the sun shines, whether aliens exist, or when they’ll want to hear random facts about the universe.
That’s exactly the challenge that Reddit user MoonBaboon was faced with. The redditor asked the online community what mind-blowing but simple facts would satisfy their 3-year-old son’s daily request for one fact before bedtime. And people delivered!
From facts like pink dolphins actually being real to interesting trivia tidbits like somebody having had the hiccups for 68 years, these bits of knowledge are fun for everyone, not just parents. We’ve collected the best mind-blowing facts, so scroll down and remember to upvote your faves. When you’re done with this list, have a look at Bored Panda’s earlier post about a father who asked strangers for interesting facts to tell his daughter.
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#1
Crows can see a color that we can't called ultraviolet. Their feathers have pretty patterns on them, like peacocks, but they're all colored ultraviolet, so even though they look black to us, they all look really fancy and colorful to each other.
Dynein 4 years ago
All birds see ultraviolet as a unique color (Not just as a shade, but a whole different color, the way green and red are different to us). And I could nerd about animal color vision all day! Mammals actually have very poor color vision, and primates have just begun to appreciate a fuller palette. Some reptiles and fish have/had very advanced vision, and their ancestors (which includes birds) never went through a period of collective vision degeneration like mammals, and therefore are millions of years of vision evolution ahead of us. Four unique colors, all well spaced out on the spectrum (not squished together like our newly evolved green/red differentiation), sharpened vision....... *sigh*
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#2
There is a species of burrowing tarantula that lets tiny frogs live in their burrows. The frog eats pests that are too small for the spider to get, and in return, the frog is kept safe by the big ol' spider. This is pretty much how the domestication of cats went.
Tiny frogs are tarantula housecats.
#3
sea otters hold hands while they are sleeping to not drift apart
MoonBabboon’s post got over 55.3k upvotes on r/AskReddit and the redditor received several awards for their wholesome question.
Sure, random facts are cool, but they’re more than just that—they actually help turn your child into a more capable person, preparing them for the future. UK researchers conducted a study about the link between how engaged parents were in their children’s learning and how well the kids did academically later on.
#4
Crows have the critical thinking skills of a 7 year old child… which is far superior to most animals
Kirsten Kerkhof 4 years ago
And they hold grudges. My cousin, as a child, p*ssed of a crow. The crow's mates joined in to throw nuts and small rocks at him. After a little while the cousin moved away internationally and only visited 10 years later. Guess who was welcomed by a delicate hazelnut to the head? yup ...
#5
Manatees fart to sink deeper in the water, it's like letting the air out of a balloon.
#6
The male emu goes around and collects the eggs that the female lays, painstakingly moves them all to a nest, then sits on them until they hatch. After they hatch he is their only caretaker. The mother isn't involved at all.
The researchers found that kids do well in school when their parents read to them, listen to them read aloud, help them learn their letters, numbers, songs, and nursery rhymes.
And when the kids got a bit older, they excelled in school when their parents remained active in their education.
So going with your kid on field trips, participating in the classroom, showing genuine interest in how they’re doing at school, and monitoring their progress with homework and tests all lead to better results in school. In other words, honest, dedicated care and attention pay off.
#7
Most elephants weigh less than a blue whale’s tongue is my favorite
#8
The word "Arctic" doesn't mean "cold" but rather comes from the Greek word for "bear."
Therefore, Arctic means Bear-place and Antarctic means Not-bear-place
#9
A baby octopus is about the size of a flea when it is born.
#11
If you shave a tiger you’ll see striped skin.
#12
Blue whales have the loudest voices in the animal kingdom, up to 180 dB. (Jet engine is this loud). They have been known to modulate their calls so as to not hurt the ears of divers. Mothers and calves have also been discovered “whispering” to each other to avoid attracting predators.
#13
Hummingbirds offer some cool facts:
They're the only bird that can fly backwards or hover and this is due to their wings flapping in a figure 8 pattern.
They eat by sticking out their tongues which is covered in barbs.
They often hitch rides on bigger birds for migration.
They build their nests using gossamer (spider webs) so that the nest will expand with the babies as they grow, they always lay 2 eggs at a time.
When they rest, they go into this catatonia called torpor which lowers their heart rate to less than a quarter of beats per minute as when they're active so that they don't starve to death while they sleep.
Cathy Gaines 4 years ago
I really like picturing hummingbirds on other bird's backs... Like a little baby Yoda in a backpack!
#14
Elephants think humans are cute like humans think puppies are cute
#15
Cats can be allergic to people
#16
If you were 66 million light years away from Earth and had a telescope that could see Earth, you could still see the dinosaurs.
Dianna Siever 4 years ago
Because dinosaurs were first to develop space travel and a select squad of space traveling dinosaurs have been found to be 66 million light years away from Earth.
#17
Queen Elizabeth can’t sit on the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones. - the ruling monarch can’t sit on a foreign throne, even if it’s fictional.
#19
Both boys and girls used to wear dresses. It was only when boys got older they started wearing pants.
#20
A small child could swim through the veins of a blue whale.
#21
Wombats poop in cubes.
chaos kitten 4 years ago
hi im australian and i live on a farm in the bush and until i saw this on the internet i legit never noticed and went outside and checked for myself, tis legit
#22
Squirrels forget where they hide about half of their nuts.
#23
Crows and Ravens can learn to imitate human speech.
#24
Squids have doughnut shaped brains!
#25
There are pink dolphins in the amazon river
Sheila Peixoto 4 years ago
In the Amazon region it's believed that the pink dolphin (boto) turns into a handsome man and seduces young women. A way to spot a pink dolphin in human disguise is that they always wear a hat (to hide their respiratory hole)
#26
If you lift a kangaroos tail of the ground it can't hop (but he will not be happy).
#27
You can hear a lion roar from up to 5 miles away.
Martti Laurson 4 years ago
Good to know. I would have enough time to get my affairs in order before the lion catches me.
#28
Nutella was invented during WWII, when hazelnuts were mixed into chocolate to extend chocolate rations.
#29
There are more plastic flamingos in the world than real flamingos.
#30
Before he became president, Abraham Lincoln was a wrestler.
What do you think ?
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
Some awesome and interesting facts but quite a few don't seem easy to understand for a child that young.
togcrewsc 4 years ago
Fun fact: humans are bioluminescent. We can glow in the dark, our eyes aren't strong enough to see it.
Eunice Probert 4 years ago
I need my eyes testing. I read that as "humans are blancmange". Mind you, that explains a lot.
Load More Replies... Martha Meyer 4 years ago
Some awesome and interesting facts but quite a few don't seem easy to understand for a child that young.
togcrewsc 4 years ago
Fun fact: humans are bioluminescent. We can glow in the dark, our eyes aren't strong enough to see it.
Eunice Probert 4 years ago
I need my eyes testing. I read that as "humans are blancmange". Mind you, that explains a lot.
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