What Is an Insect? Smithsonian Video for Kids?

An insect is a tiny creature that lives all around us and has six legs, like your favorite toy robot.

Imagine you're playing with a toy robot, it has six legs that move when you press a button. That's kind of what an insect does, but instead of batteries, it uses its own body to move and do cool things.

Insects usually have two wings, like a little airplane. Some insects, like ants, don’t fly, they walk everywhere, just like you walk from your room to the kitchen.

They also have one head with eyes and a mouth, kind of like your face. And most insects have a body that is divided into three parts: head, chest, and belly, it’s like having three different toys stuck together!

Insects can be found in every corner of the world, on the ground, in trees, even inside your house! Some are helpful, like bees who make honey. Others are pesky, like flies that buzz around you when you're eating.

Insects also change shape as they grow up, like how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, it’s kind of like growing from a small toy to a big one!