Girl facts for kids
A girl is a young female human. This means she is either a child or a teenager (an adolescent). Young girls have a child's body. As they grow, usually around ages 11 to 13, their bodies start to change. This time is called puberty. During puberty, a girl's body matures, and she slowly becomes a woman. Her body develops breasts, her hips and shoulders get wider, and she starts to have periods.
What is a Girl?
The word "girl" has been used for a very long time. It comes from an old language spoken by people called Anglo Saxons. Sometimes, older people might still call grown-up women "girls." You might hear them say things like "a night out with the girls."
The opposite of a girl is a boy. A boy is a young male child who will grow up to be a man.
How girls are raised can be very different around the world. In many Western countries, girls traditionally wear a dress or a skirt. However, today, many girls wear trousers (pants), just like boys. This is especially true for everyday clothes. Girls often have longer hair than boys. But this can change a lot depending on what is popular at the time.
Traditions and Girls
Traditionally, girls often play with dolls. Boys, on the other hand, might prefer more active games. They also often enjoy playing with mechanical toys, like toy cars and trains. People often discuss why this is. They wonder if it's because girls and boys are born to like different things. Or, if it's because society expects them to behave in certain ways.
The traditional color for a girl is pink. For boys, the traditional color is blue. When a baby is born in a hospital, it often gets a pink or blue tag. This tag is usually placed on its wrist or ankle. The color shows if the baby is a girl or a boy.
Some names are usually for girls, while others are for boys. But some names can be for both girls and boys. For example, "Jo" might be for a girl, and "Joe" for a boy. Even though they sound similar, they are spelled differently.
In some countries, like Britain, people use the term "old girl." This means a grown-up woman who used to go to a certain school. For example, "She is an old girl of Cransbury High School." But if you use "old girl" in any other way, it can sound rude. This is different from "old boy," which usually sounds friendly.
Related pages
Images for kids
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A young girl in Laos.
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Goods exchanged as bride price.
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A Pashtun girl. This group has a tradition of trading girls to solve arguments.
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Girls in China in 1982. China has more boys than girls, partly because of the one child policy.
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A girl with a doll, a traditional toy for girls. Photo by Hermann Kapps.
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A winner of the Heraean Games, shown near the start of a race. Different cultures have had different ideas about what activities are okay for girls.
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An Afghan girl. Sex segregation is common in Afghanistan.
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Girls working in different types of child labor in Central America.
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Harari girls in Ethiopia.
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A girl riding her skateboard.
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La lettrice (1856). Reading Girl, a sculpture by Pietro Magni.
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Princess Neferure as a girl, sitting on the lap of her teacher Senenmut. Girls and women in Ancient Egypt had a fairly high social standing.
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The 58th International Debutante Ball, 2012, in New York City.
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A Bat mitzvah in Israel.
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A Quinceañera celebration in Nicaragua.
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Peter Paul Rubens—Portrait of a Young Girl.
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The Time of the Lilacs, by Sophie Gengembre Anderson.
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Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Johannes Vermeer.
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Little Red Riding Hood, from a 1927 storybook.
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The Salona Girl, a marble head from the city of Salona, made in the 3rd century AD. It is now in an archaeological museum in Zagreb.
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See also
In Spanish: Infancia para niños
