Year 2 science · Key Stage 1 · Animals, including humans

Year 2 growing up, survival and staying healthy: parent guide

In Year 2, children learn that animals, including humans, have young that grow into adults, and look at life cycles such as the chicken and the butterfly. They find out that animals need water, food and air to survive, and they learn why exercise, eating the right amounts of different types of food, and good hygiene matter for people.

Growing up and staying healthy, explained

The first part of the topic is about growing up. The national curriculum asks children to notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults. Children look at life cycles and compare them. A chicken hatches from an egg as a chick and grows into a hen or cockerel. A butterfly goes from egg to caterpillar to pupa (sometimes called a chrysalis) to adult butterfly. A frog goes from spawn to tadpole to froglet to frog. A lamb grows into a sheep, and a human grows from baby to toddler to child to teenager to adult. The curriculum is clear that children are not expected to understand how reproduction happens at this stage; the focus is on recognising and describing growth.

Children compare life cycles and sort animals by how their young look. A lamb looks like a small sheep, but a caterpillar or tadpole looks very different from the adult. Schools often observe and measure growth, such as watching tadpoles or caterpillars if that is possible, or measuring the children’s own height and handspan and comparing with a younger or older sibling or with baby photographs. Children are asked questions like “What can a baby do now that it couldn’t do before?”

The second part is about survival: what animals, including humans, need to stay alive. The curriculum names water, food and air. Children do not need to know why animals need air; they need to be able to say that animals need it, and perhaps to link it with breathing. Many animals also need shelter, and pets rely on people to give them what they need. Children are asked to find out what particular animals need, for example a hamster, a fish in a tank or a bird in the garden.

The third part is about humans staying healthy, and the curriculum names three things: exercise, eating the right amounts of different types of food, and hygiene. Children learn that exercise makes the heart beat faster and the body stronger, and that this is part of keeping well. They learn about the main types of food, such as fruit and vegetables, foods like bread, rice and potatoes, proteins such as fish, eggs, beans and meat, and dairy foods, as well as small amounts of food high in fat or sugar. The message is balance, not banning foods. They also learn about hygiene: washing hands before eating and after using the toilet, brushing teeth and keeping clean, because it helps to stop germs spreading.

There is no test in science at this age. Teachers listen to children explaining, sequencing life cycles and sorting foods, and look at pictures and charts. The best preparation is real conversation about growing, eating and moving.

Words your child will hear

Offspring: The young of an animal or a person.
Life cycle: The stages of an animal’s life, from being born or hatched to becoming an adult.
Adult: A fully grown person or animal.
Survive: To stay alive. Animals need water, food and air to survive.
Exercise: Moving your body in ways that make your heart beat faster, like running or dancing.
Hygiene: Keeping yourself and your things clean, for example by washing your hands.
Balanced diet: Eating the right amounts of different types of food.

What the National Curriculum says

In Year 2, pupils should be taught to:

Notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults
Find out about and describe the basic needs of animals, including humans, for survival (water, food and air)
Describe the importance for humans of exercise, eating the right amounts of different types of food, and hygiene

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: comparing a butterfly and a lamb

How is the life cycle of a butterfly the same as, and different from, the growth of a lamb? And what does each animal need to survive?

Put the butterfly’s stages in order using pictures: egg, caterpillar, pupa (chrysalis), butterfly. Draw arrows to show that it goes round and the adult lays more eggs.
Put the lamb’s stages in order: lamb, then sheep. Children note that the lamb is a smaller version of the adult, and grows bigger.
Compare. Both start small and grow into adults. The caterpillar looks very different from the butterfly, but the lamb looks like a small sheep. The butterfly goes through four stages and the lamb through two.
Say what each one needs to survive. The caterpillar needs leaves to eat, water and air. The lamb needs milk at first and then grass, water and air. Both need shelter and care, but the three needs named in the curriculum are food, water and air.

“A butterfly changes a lot as it grows: egg, caterpillar, pupa, butterfly. A lamb just gets bigger. Both need food, water and air to survive.”

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking that every baby animal looks like a smaller version of its parents

Children know babies, puppies and kittens, which look like small adults, so they expect it everywhere.

What helps: Show a photograph of a tadpole beside a frog, and a caterpillar beside a butterfly, and ask what is different. Ask them to predict the next stage.

Saying that fish don’t need air because they live in water

Fish don’t come to the surface to gulp air in the way that we breathe, so it looks as though they don’t use it.

What helps: Explain that there is air dissolved in water, and fish take it in through their gills. All animals need air, though they get it in different ways.

Believing that healthy eating means never having treats, or that one “good” food is enough

Children hear “healthy” and “unhealthy” foods and think in black and white, and a food they love can feel like a forbidden one.

What helps: Use the phrases “right amounts” and “different types”. A plate with a mix of foods is the goal, and a small treat now and then is part of a balanced diet.

Thinking that hands that look clean are clean

Germs are too small to see, so there is no way for a child to tell by looking.

What helps: Put a little flour on your child’s hands, shake hands or touch a few objects, and see how far it spreads. Wash with soap and water for as long as it takes to sing a short song twice.

How to help at home

Look at baby photographs. Put photos of your child as a baby, a toddler and now in order, and talk about what has changed and what they can do now. Ask a grandparent or an older relative what they could do at the same age.
Compare animal families. Look at pictures of animals and their young, such as lamb and sheep, tadpole and frog, caterpillar and butterfly, and ask whether the young animal looks like its parent.
Move every day. Dance in the living room, play in the park, or walk to school. Children aged 5 to 18 are advised to average at least 60 minutes a day of activity that makes them breathe faster and feel warmer, and active play counts. Afterwards, ask them to feel their heartbeat and their breathing.
Build a balanced plate together. At a meal, talk about the different types of food on the plate and why we eat a mixture. Let your child choose a fruit or vegetable they would like to try, and keep treats in proportion rather than forbidden.
Make handwashing a habit. Wash hands before eating, after the toilet and after playing outside or touching animals. A short song makes it feel less like a chore.

Builds on

Year 1: Animal groups, diets and the body

Leads on to

Year 3: Nutrition, skeletons and muscles

Everything in Year 2 science

Updated 20 October 2026.