Animals that start with E

Elephant

Elephants never forget, and you won’t either with these awesome facts for curious kids. Trunks up for learning! Ready to join Albert as he explores amazing elephant facts for toddlers, preschoolers and kindergartners? Click on the images to hear silly sounds and then read about fun elephant facts like what do elephants look like?, what sound do elephants make?, how big are elephants?, what do elephants eat?, where do elephants live?, and more fun facts about elephants for kids!

What do elephants look like?

Elephants are the biggest animal that lives on land.

Elephants are mammals, warm-blooded animals that have fur or hair and feed their babies milk.

They a long nose called a trunk that they use to pick things up, drink water and even use like a snorkel when swimming!

They have big, round flat feet and a little, tufty tail.

Elephants also have extra big ears which they flap to keep cool, and specialized long teeth called tusks.

What sound do elephants make?

Click the the image to hear the sound!

Most people know that elephants make trumpet sounds, but they also roar, bark, snort, and growl.

Elephants make a sounds that can be heard up to 6 miles (9 kilometers) away.

They also make a series of rumbles and can call using infrasound, which is noise that we can’t hear with our ears.

How big are elephants?

Elephants are the biggest animals that live on land.

The biggest elephants can grow up to 13 feet (4 meters) tall and weight up to 14,000 pounds (6,350 kilograms). That’s as tall and heavy as a giant tractor!

Indian elephants are a bit smaller. They grow to 9 feet (2.5 meters) tall.

What do elephants eat?

Elephants are herbivores, or plant eaters.

They use their trunks to pull up grass and to strip bark and leaves from trees.

They also eat other parts of plants like fruit and roots.

Where do elephants live?

Elephants live in grasslands (sometimes called savannah), rainforests and even the desert!

African elephants live in sub-Saharan Africa and Asian elephants live in parts of Asia.

More fun facts about elephants for kids

There are two types of elephants, African and Asian.
African elephants have larger ears shaped like the continent of Africa, while Asian elephants have smaller, rounder ears.
African elephants have two “fingers” on the end of their trunk to help them pick things up, while Asian elephants only have one “finger”.
Elephants’ trunks have 60,000 muscles. This makes it so strong it can rip up a tree but also so dexterous it can pick up a raw egg without breaking the shell.
Elephants enjoy swimming and splashing about in the water. They spray mud on their backs and use it like sunscreen!
Tusks are large teeth that help the elephant dig, lift things, and fight.
Female and young Asian elephants have small tusks called “tushes”.
A mommy elephant is pregnant for almost 2 years before she gives birth to a baby, called a calf.
Just like people can be left- or right-handed, elephants also have a favorite tusk!
Elephants are known to have excellent memory and are very clever. They show a huge range of feelings and emotions including happiness and sadness.
Elephants live in groups called herds where the oldest female is in charge.
Elephants say hello to each other by raising their trunks high, or sticking their trunks into the other elephant’s mouth!
Elephants can talk to each other through their feet! Their feet are so sensitive that they can pick up rumbles and vibrations made by sounds very far away.