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Crazy Creatures Week: Fun Animal Facts to WOW Your Kids!
Get ready for a wild ride into the animal kingdom! As part of Barracudas Summer Camps’ Crazy Creatures Week (running from 18th - 22nd August), we’re celebrating the wacky, the weird, and the downright wonderful creatures that share our world.
To keep the fun going at home, we’ve rounded up some mind-blowing animal facts that will blow their minds. These are perfect for dinner table chats, bedtime stories, or car ride quizzes! 🦎
🐙 1. An Octopus Has Three Hearts… and Blue Blood!
Talk about overachieving! Two of an octopus’s hearts pump blood to its gills, and the third sends it to the rest of its body. Oh, and that blood? It’s blue thanks to a copper-rich protein called hemocyanin.
💡 Crazy Fact: When an octopus swims, it stops its main heart to do so. No wonder they prefer crawling!
🐤 2. Parrots Name Their Babies
Yes, really! Wild parrots use unique sounds (kind of like names) to call their chicks. Each baby has its own special “call sign” – and it sticks with them for life.
💡 Brilliant Bonus Fact: A parrot’s feathers aren’t just pretty—they’re powerful! Parrots produce a special pigment called psittacofulvin which gives their feathers bright red, yellow, and green colours. Even cooler? It helps protect them from harmful bacteria! Scientists found that these pigments actually stop feathers from getting damaged—so parrots stay fabulous and fresh-feathered.
🦘 3. Kangaroos Can’t Walk Backwards
Australia’s iconic hopper is powerful and fast – but there’s no reverse gear! That’s why kangaroos are on the Aussie coat of arms: they’re always moving forward.
💡 Try This: Challenge your kids to move like a kangaroo – no stepping backwards allowed!
🐌 4. Some Snails Can Sleep for 3 Years
Think your teen sleeps a lot? Meet the desert snail! In dry conditions, it can snooze for up to three years, waiting for better weather.
💡 Did You Know? Snails also have thousands of tiny teeth on their tongues. Sleepy and spiky!
👀 5. Eye Shapes Reveal Who’s the Hunter… and Who’s the Hunted!
Ever noticed how some animals have vertical pupils (like cats or snakes), while others have horizontal ones (like sheep or goats)? It’s not random—it’s all about survival!
- Vertical pupils help predators judge distance and sneak up on prey with precision
- Horizontal pupils give prey animals a super-wide field of view to spot danger coming from almost any direction
💡 Fun Experiment: Try looking straight ahead, then slowly move your hands to your sides—how far can you see without turning your head? Now imagine if your pupils were shaped to make that even easier!
🦕 6. A Tardigrade Can Survive Space!
Also known as water bears, tardigrades are microscopic, squishy little creatures that can survive extreme heat, cold, radiation, and even the vacuum of outer space.
💡 Mind-Blowing: They can dry out completely and come back to life years later!
🐢 7. Sea Turtles Use Earth’s Magnetic Field as a GPS
These gentle giants can travel thousands of miles and still find their way back to the very beach they were born on – using the Earth’s magnetic field like a built-in sat-nav.
💡 Did You Know? They've roamed the oceans for 110 million years! Sea turtle mums lay between 65 - 180 eggs at once!
🦎 8. Lizards Can Squirt Blood From Their Eyes 😳
The horned lizard of North America can shoot blood from its eyes to scare off predators. Gross… but genius!
💡 Fun Fact: It can aim the squirt up to 5 feet away!
🐑 9. Sheep Can Recognise Human Faces
Sheep are brainier than they seem – they can remember and recognise up to 50 human faces for years. They can even learn to recognise faces in photos! So if you made a woolly friend on holiday, they might still know you.
💡 At-Home Game: Look through old family photos – how many faces can your child remember?
🐧 10. Penguins Propose with Pebbles
When a male penguin finds a pebble he likes, he offers it to a female. If she accepts, they become penguin partners. Aww!
💡 Try This: Create “penguin proposals” with pretty stones or decorated pebbles in the garden.
Ready to Go Wild?
We're looking forward to burrowing into animal fun at summer camp during our Crazy Creatures Weekly Theme (18-22 August) at Barracudas. From arts and crafts inspired by animal antics to sporty challenges themed around wild movement, it’s going to be a week full of exploration, laughter, and learning.
🦁 Don’t miss the fun – there’s still time to book a place!