Here are 50 facts from FunFact's “Kids & family” topic, all checked. Each one cites its source (fr.wikipedia.org, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, doi.org…) and the date it was checked. This topic is part of FunFact Premium.
The hunter appears only in the later version by the Brothers Grimm, in the 19th century.
The 1697 tale ends with the wolf’s victory, followed by a moral warning young girls. Older oral versions were even bloodier.
Source: PLoS ONE — The Phylogeny of Little Red Riding Hood · Checked on October 24, 2026
The auditory system is considered fully functional between 25 and 29 weeks of gestation, during the 6th and 7th months.
In the womb, sounds arrive muffled, filtered by the amniotic fluid and the abdominal wall. The mother's voice, which also travels through her own body, is especially present there.
Source: PubMed Central — Fetal facial expression in response to intravaginal music emission · Checked on October 24, 2026
A 1986 study: babies react more to a text heard in the womb than to a new text read by the same voice.
The mothers had read the same children's book every day during the last weeks. The researchers measured the newborn's sucking, which showed its preference. The fetus thus memorizes the melody and rhythm of speech, not the meaning of the words.
Source: Infant Behavior and Development (DeCasper et Spence, 1986) · Checked on October 24, 2026
Its muscles and nervous system are too immature for effective shivering; brown fatty tissue produces heat instead.
This special tissue is abundant in newborns, as in hibernating animals. Its cells contain many small droplets of fat, converted directly into heat. Adults keep only a small amount of it.
Source: StatPearls (NCBI Bookshelf) — Physiology, Temperature Regulation · Checked on October 24, 2026
2021 National Perinatal Survey, of 12,723 women: 12.2% reported smoking, versus 16.3% in 2016.
Reported cannabis use during pregnancy also fell, from 2.1% to 1.1%. These figures are self-reported by the women and may be underestimated.
Source: Santé publique France / Inserm (Enquête nationale périnatale 2021) · Checked on October 24, 2026
Inspired by Justus von Liebig’s artificial milk (1865), it was already sold in more than twenty countries in 1875, the year Nestlé sold his company for a million francs.
Henri Nestlé, a pharmacist based in Vevey, Switzerland, drew on the artificial milk of the German Justus von Liebig (1865). Sources differ on the exact year it was developed (1866 or 1867). His company became a joint-stock company after the 1875 sale.
Source: Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse — Nestlé, Henri · Checked on October 24, 2026
Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve published it anonymously in “La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins.”
The tale was abridged in 1756 by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in her educational manual Le Magasin des enfants, published in London. She removed the entire second part, with the quarrel of the fairies.
Source: Dix-huitième siècle — Une lecture de La Belle et la Bête selon la Carte de Tendre: · Checked on October 24, 2026
A 2015 study shows that older females, which no longer reproduce, lead movements more often, especially in bad years.
Orcas, like humans, live for decades after their last calf, which is rare in the animal kingdom. Researchers think these females pass on to the group their knowledge of fishing areas, which helps their young survive.
Source: Current Biology (Brent et al., 2015) · Checked on October 24, 2026
“L’Île de la félicité” (The Island of Happiness) appeared in 1690, while Perrault’s collection of tales dates from 1697.
This tale is inserted into her novel Histoire d’Hypolite, comte de Duglas. It launched the fashion for fairy tales in Parisian salons, where several of the century’s women storytellers gathered.
Source: Wikipédia (Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy) · Checked on October 24, 2026
In pre-modern records from Finland and Canada, women who lived long after menopause had more grandchildren.
This “grandmother hypothesis” says that a woman who helps her daughters have children earlier, more often and more successfully passes on her genes just as much as by having children herself. It is a hypothesis, debated, not definitive proof.
Source: Nature (Lahdenperä et al., 2004) · Checked on October 24, 2026
The empress reportedly made 62 mistakes; the best, the Austrian ambassador Metternich the younger, only 3. The figures vary depending on the account.
Prosper Mérimée had written this text to entertain the court, at Eugénie’s request. According to tradition, Alexandre Dumas fils (24 mistakes) asked Metternich to apply to the French Academy so as to “teach them spelling.”
Source: Wikipédia (Dictée de Mérimée) · Checked on October 24, 2026
A 2010 study: babies of mothers speaking English and Tagalog listen to both equally; the others prefer English.
Babies whose mother spoke only English clearly preferred English. Bilingual newborns tell the two languages apart well: their double preference is not confusion. The authors conclude that both kinds of learning rely on the same mechanisms.
Source: Psychological Science (Byers-Heinlein, Burns et Werker, 2010) · Checked on October 24, 2026
To the sides, it covers 40 to 60° on each side, versus 90° for an adult.
So a baby mainly sees what is right in front of them. Their field of vision widens very quickly as the visual system matures, and by the end of the first year it is almost that of an adult.
Source: Encyclopædia Universalis — Développement de la perception visuelle dès la naissance · Checked on October 24, 2026
This French silent film is generally presented as the first film drawn entirely frame by frame.
A non-cinematic animated film had been shown as early as 1892, so the title of “first” depends on what you call a film. Cohl is regarded as a pioneer of animated cinema.
Source: BAMPFA — Fantasmagorie (Cohl, Emile) · Checked on October 24, 2026
She called her waterproof cover the “Boater”; it was patented in 1951 and sold to great success from 1949.
She developed the idea at home, in her attic, to stop the leaks of the cloth diapers of the time. She also came up with a disposable paper diaper, which manufacturers turned down: it was Pampers that launched this type of diaper in 1961.
Source: Lemelson-Mit — Marion Donovan Disposable Diaper · Checked on October 24, 2026
Doctors count from the last menstrual period, about two weeks before conception: this is gestational age (called “weeks of amenorrhea” in France).
A normal pregnancy lasts 37 to 41 weeks of gestational age, or about 35 to 39 weeks after conception. A birth before 37 weeks is considered premature. The “nine months” of popular culture is an approximation: in a 2013 study, the median length was 38 weeks and 2 days after ovulation.
Source: terrafemina.com — Terra Femina - La durée de la grossesse n'est pas de 40 semaines - 2013 · Checked on October 24, 2026
Attaching roller skates to wooden boards gave birth to skateboarding.
In 1950s California, surfers wanting to practice on asphalt when the ocean was flat took apart roller skates and screwed them under small pieces of wood.
Source: Skateboard Museum Historical Archives · Checked on October 24, 2026
Aimed at children aged six to twelve, it celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2006 and published works by the Comtesse de Ségur.
The collection was born after a train trip Louis Hachette took with Napoleon III. Hachette sold books in train stations; of seven collections launched from 1853, only the one with the pink cover lasted.
Source: Wikipédia (Bibliothèque rose) · Checked on October 24, 2026
The art of making a disc rise and fall on a string has lasted for thousands of years.
Paintings on Greek vases from around 500 BC already show children playing with terracotta discs attached to a cord.
Source: British Museum — Ancient Greek Toys · Checked on October 24, 2026
Patty and Mildred Hill, of Louisville, composed “Good Morning to All” for their kindergarten pupils to sing in the morning.
The “Happy Birthday” lyrics appeared later. For decades, the song was protected by a very profitable copyright in the United States, until a court challenged that right in 2015; it has since been considered free of copyright.
Source: UofL News — Discovering the Roots of the World's Most Popular Song · Checked on October 24, 2026
About 47% of infants aged 0 to 6 months were exclusively breastfed over the period 2018-2025, according to the WHO.
The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months, then the introduction of safe complementary foods. The organization asks governments to strengthen support for breastfeeding, particularly in maternity wards.
Source: OMS (Alimentation du nourrisson et du jeune enfant) · Checked on October 24, 2026
Depending on the family, “breeching” (the switch to breeches) happened between about ages 2 and 8, and often came with a small celebration.
Dresses were practical for diapers and toilet training. The split of pink for girls, blue for boys is even more recent: it only took hold in the 20th century. The future American president Franklin Roosevelt, for example, was photographed in a dress at about age 2.
Source: Wikipedia (Breeching, boys) · Checked on October 24, 2026
His parents paid 15 cents in postage and insured him for $50, a few weeks after the US parcel post service was created.
Little James Beagle weighed a bit under 5 kg (11 lb), just under the parcel weight limit. He was carried to his grandmother's house in Batavia, a few kilometers away. It's the first known case; the practice was restricted in 1914.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine · Checked on October 26, 2026
The famous fortune-telling toy for kids works on a simple floating principle.
Inside the black ball, a 20-sided polyhedron floats in colored alcohol; when you turn the ball over, it rises and one of its written answers appears in the window.
Source: Mattel Archives — Magic 8-Ball Mechanics · Checked on October 24, 2026
The Royal Game of Ur, found in Mesopotamia, had its rules reconstructed by Irving Finkel of the British Museum.
A board in the British Museum dates to around 2600-2400 BC. The tablet explaining the game was written by the Babylonian scribe Itti-Marduk-balāṭu, who was copying older rules. Finkel translated it in the early 1980s.
Source: TradGames — The Royal Game of Ur & The Game of 20 Squares · Checked on October 24, 2026
It's mama in Swahili, Mandarin, Quechua and Polish, and amá in Navajo.
These are among the easiest sounds for a babbling baby to produce: the consonants m, p and b and the vowel a. Linguist Roman Jakobson even proposed that the “m” comes from the nasal murmur of a nursing baby. Adults would then have associated these sounds with the parents.
Source: Psychology Today — Why Everyone Calls Their Mothers "Mama" · Checked on October 24, 2026
The “gâteau des Rois,” a brioche flavored with orange blossom and topped with candied fruit, is eaten mainly in Provence, Languedoc and the Southwest.
The flaky frangipane galette, very common in Paris and the north, is therefore only one version of the Epiphany celebration. In both cases, a fève is hidden; often, the youngest child, under the table, says who gets each slice.
Source: La Dépêche du Midi — Epiphanie. La brioche, reine des galettes · Checked on October 24, 2026
Clostridium botulinum spores can persist in honey and cause infant botulism in babies.
In a baby, the gut flora is not yet developed enough to keep these bacteria from settling in. Infant botulism can make a baby “floppy.” For an adult, honey poses no problem of this kind.
Source: ANSES — Pas de miel pour les enfants de moins de 1 an · Checked on October 24, 2026
The Greek Julius Pollux describes, in the 2nd century, a game very similar to today’s hide-and-seek.
One player closes their eyes while the others hide, then goes off to look for them. Scholars connect this game with the “apodidraskinda” mentioned by Pollux in his Onomasticon.
Source: Encyclopædia Britannica (apodidraskinda) · Checked on October 24, 2026
Lewis Carroll made up the story for the three daughters of his friend Henry Liddell, on an outing on the river in Oxford.
The character bears the first name of Alice Liddell, but scholars do not agree on how much of the character is really based on her. The book has never gone out of print.
Source: Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford — LMH's copy of Alice in Wonderland · Checked on October 24, 2026
The first print run dates from December 1901; the publisher Frederick Warne then published it in 1902, with great success.
The tale grew out of a letter written in 1893 to Noël Moore, five years old, the son of her former governess. The first illustrations were in black and white.
Source: Toronto Public Library — The Tale of Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit · Checked on October 24, 2026
In 2025, 2,550 children died before their first birthday, or 4.0 per 1,000 live births.
After falling sharply in the 20th century, the rate even rose slightly between 2011 (3.5 per 1,000) and 2022 (4.0 per 1,000), then stabilized. It remains very low compared with the past, but it is no longer improving.
Source: Insee (Bilan démographique 2025) · Checked on October 24, 2026
This is microchimerism: fetal cells cross the placenta and can multiply long after delivery.
Conversely, a child also carries cells from its mother, sometimes from its maternal grandmother or older siblings. The exact type of these cells and their role remain poorly understood.
Source: PubMed Central — Fetal microchimerism and maternal health during and after pregnancy · Checked on October 24, 2026
Each plank is 7.8 mm (0.31 in) thick, 23.4 mm (0.92 in) wide and 117 mm (4.6 in) long.
The width equals 3 thicknesses and the length 5 widths. Tom van der Bruggen invented them at 25 to make a model of a stone castle in Aveyron, France, because blocks were too bulky. Kapla comes from the Dutch for “elves’ little planks.”
Source: Le Bordeaux Invisible — Kapla : les « planchettes de lutin » de Saint-Louis-de-Montferrand · Checked on October 24, 2026
From 1952, it was sold as plastic parts to stick into a vegetable. It was the first toy advertised on television.
After complaints about rotting vegetables and new safety rules, Hasbro supplied a plastic potato body starting in 1964.
Source: Antique Trader — The Complicated History of Mr. Potato Head · Checked on October 24, 2026
The soft gaps between these bones are called fontanelles; they close gradually after birth.
This flexibility helps the head adapt to passing through the mother's pelvis. It also leaves room for the brain, which grows very fast during the first months. The fontanelles close one by one, the largest last, usually before the end of the second year.
Source: Eastern Health — Head Shape (Infants) · Checked on October 24, 2026
The rule targets written homework: learning lessons and reading at home remain in principle allowed.
This ban dates back 70 years, but it is unevenly applied in practice. It is often justified by concern for equality between pupils, who do not all receive the same help at home.
Source: Nomad Education — L'arrêté du 23 novembre 1956 et les devoirs scolaires · Checked on October 24, 2026
The famous colorful family card game came out of a disagreement over the rules of Crazy Eights.
Merle Robbins, a barber from Reading, Ohio, designed his own card game, with its own rules and penalties, to put an end to family arguments over the rules of Crazy Eights.
Source: Strong National Museum of Play — Uno · Checked on October 24, 2026
Given away with a subscription to La Semaine de Suzette, she was 27 cm (10.6 in) tall and was made until the late 1950s.
Created by the Gautier publishing house, she was manufactured by the S.F.B.J., a French doll company. Her head was long made of bisque (porcelain), her eyes fixed and then “sleeping” from 1919-1920. Her size rose to 29 cm (11.4 in) in 1933.
Source: Wikipédia (Bleuette) · Checked on October 24, 2026
Fernand Lamaze visited the USSR in 1951, then spread the method at the Bluets maternity hospital in Paris, funded by the metalworkers' CGT (a French trade union).
He had headed the maternity ward of the Bluets polyclinic since 1947. The method, based on preparation for childbirth, was then popularized in the 1950s under the name “painless childbirth.”
Source: Le Maitron — LAMAZE Fernand · Checked on October 24, 2026
Their manual babbling follows a development very close to the vocal babbling of hearing babies.
This shows that babbling is not tied to sound alone: it is a stage of language learning, whatever its form. A hearing baby of deaf parents also babbles with their hands, using gestures distinct from other movements.
Source: Scientific American — Hearing Babies of Deaf Parents 'Babble' with their Hands · Checked on October 24, 2026
American biologist Talus Taylor and French architect Annette Tison created the characters on May 19, 1970.
Talus Taylor did not speak French: he asked his wife what the child’s demand meant. She explained that it was a sweet treat. The two then imagined a pink, perfectly round character who changes shape at will.
Source: Wikipédia (Barbapapa) · Checked on October 24, 2026
It rises to 32 days for multiple births; 4 days are mandatory right after the 3 days of birth leave, and the rest can be split up within 6 months.
Before July 2021, paternity leave lasted 11 days (18 for multiple births). It is added to the 3 days of birth leave paid by the employer. The mandatory portion aims to push fathers to be present from the very first days.
Source: Service-public ; Vie-publique ; MSA · Checked on October 24, 2026
Amniotic fluid contains water, cells from the baby and fetal urine, and it is constantly renewed.
This fluid protects against shocks and lets the baby move freely. The fetal cells it contains are also used for prenatal diagnosis, during an amniocentesis.
Source: StatPearls (NCBI Bookshelf) — Embryology, Amniotic Fluid · Checked on October 24, 2026
Saint Nicholas, patron saint of Lorraine, rewards well-behaved children; his companion, Père Fouettard (“Father Whipper”), punishes the bad ones, according to legend.
This holiday comes almost three weeks before Christmas. In Nancy, Metz or Saint-Nicolas-de-Port, parades gather thousands of people. It also exists in Belgium, the Netherlands (Sinterklaas) and Germany.
Source: Connexion France — What is Saint Nicolas Day celebrated in France every December 6 · Checked on October 24, 2026
The more clay the core contains, the harder it is and the lighter the line.
This scale is used by most manufacturers, and by almost all European ones. “F” is generally interpreted as “fineness.” A “2B” pencil therefore leaves a bolder, darker line than an “HB.”
Source: Pencil Pages — The Pencil Hardness Test · Checked on October 24, 2026
Popular superstitions have sometimes led to bans on children’s pastimes.
In Damascus, a wave of popularity for the toy coincided with a period of drought and severe cold, leading the authorities to temporarily ban it out of superstition.
Source: TIME Magazine Archives — "Syria: No Yo-Yo!" · Checked on October 24, 2026
Coming from Latin “grandis,” “grand” had the same form in the masculine and the feminine; it can also be found in “grand-rue” (main street) or “grand-messe” (high mass).
For a long time it was written “grand’mère,” with an apostrophe, as if an e had disappeared. That was a mistaken interpretation: there was never an e to remove. The hyphen definitively replaced it.
Source: Wiktionnaire (grand-mère) · Checked on October 24, 2026
It was in 1824, for his experiments with gases.
In 1824, Faraday joined sheets of natural rubber together to experiment with gases, creating the first stretchy party balloon along the way.
Source: Royal Institution London — Michael Faraday Rubber Experiments · Checked on October 24, 2026
A young shepherd, Étienne de Cloyes, gathered crowds in France heading for Jerusalem, but the chronicles speak of “pueri,” a Latin word with a vague meaning.
“Pueri” can mean children, young people, but also the poor. Many historians therefore think these crowds consisted mostly of poor people of all ages. What became of them afterward is very poorly documented.
Source: Shoshosein — La Croisade des Innocents · Checked on October 24, 2026
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