Have you ever wondered why everyone has a belly button? It doesn’t matter if you’re a girl or a boy, young or old, or where you live in the world—everyone has one! Let’s find out why.
A belly button, which doctors call a navel, is actually a scar that we are born with. Every living thing that grows inside a mother, like humans and many animals, has a belly button. But robots don’t have them!
When a baby is growing inside its mother, it can’t breathe air or eat food on its own. So, it needs something called an umbilical cord. This cord is like a special tube that carries oxygen and nutrients from the mother to the baby. Everything the mother eats, drinks, and breathes is shared with the baby through this cord.
Your belly button marks the spot where your umbilical cord was once attached to you when you were in your mother’s belly. When a baby is born, it can breathe and eat on its own, so it doesn’t need the umbilical cord anymore. The person delivering the baby cuts the cord, and after a few weeks, the last bit of it falls off, leaving behind a belly button!
Many mammals, like dogs, cats, chimps, and gorillas, also have belly buttons because they grow inside their mothers. It’s hard to see the belly buttons on furry animals like dogs, but they’re there under all that fur. Chimpanzees and gorillas have belly buttons that look a lot like ours. In the wild, animal moms often bite off the cord themselves.
However, not all animals have belly buttons. Animals that lay eggs, like most birds and reptiles, don’t have them because they aren’t connected to their mothers by a cord.
Even though your belly button might not seem very useful now, it was extremely important before you were born. It helped you get everything you needed to grow and be healthy inside your mother’s belly. So, let’s say thanks to our belly buttons!
If you’re curious about other parts of the human body or anything else, feel free to ask for more information. Thanks for learning with us, and see you next time!
Belly Button Art: Create a fun art project by drawing or painting a picture of a baby inside a mother’s belly. Use string or yarn to represent the umbilical cord connecting the baby to the mother. Discuss with your friends or family how the umbilical cord helps the baby get food and oxygen.
Animal Belly Button Hunt: Go on a belly button hunt with your family or friends. Look at pictures of different animals, like dogs, cats, and chimpanzees, and try to find their belly buttons. Talk about why some animals have belly buttons and others, like birds and reptiles, do not.
Thank You, Belly Button: Write a short thank-you note to your belly button. Think about all the important things it did for you before you were born. Share your note with a family member and ask them to share what they know about their own belly button story.
