Baby Animals

Baby Animals

Just like human babies, animal babies often have special names and look different from their parents. As they grow, they change and learn the skills they need to survive in the wild.

What Do We Call Them? Many baby animals have names that are totally different from their "grown-up" names. Here are some favorites:

How Are They Born? Animals bring their babies into the world in two main ways:

1. Born Alive Most mammals (like dogs, horses, and humans) give birth to live babies. These babies usually look like tiny versions of their parents right away.

• Fun Fact: Mammal babies drink milk from their mothers to grow strong.

2. Hatched from Eggs Many other animals, like birds, reptiles, and fish, lay eggs. The baby grows inside the shell until it is ready to peck its way out!

• Example: A mother bird sits on her eggs to keep them warm until they hatch into chicks.

Growing and Changing Some babies look exactly like their parents, just smaller (like a puppy). But some babies look completely different!

• The Frog: A baby frog is a tadpole. It lives underwater and has a tail like a fish. As it grows, it sprouts legs, loses its tail, and hops onto land!
• The Butterfly: A baby butterfly is a caterpillar. It crawls and eats leaves before spinning a chrysalis to transform into a butterfly.

How Parents Help Different animal parents care for their babies in different ways:

• Protection: Mothers (and sometimes fathers) keep babies safe from predators.
• Teaching: Parents teach babies how to hunt for food or find water.
• Independence: Some animals, like sea turtles, are born ready to take care of themselves and don't stay with their parents at all!

Lesson Summary

• Baby animals often have special names (like Cub or Fawn).
• They are either born alive or hatched from eggs.
• Some animals go through a big change called metamorphosis (like tadpoles).