Sponges are animals that can be many different colors. They all live underwater, so they are always saturated with water. That means they are always as full of as much water as they can hold.

Their bodies are full of holes, from tiny to big. This lets them move water through their bodies. They filter food out of the water, so the more water they can move, the better off they are.

Before people started making artificial sponges (way before you were born), some sponges were collected and cleaned. The soft skeleton that was left was used just like we use artificial sponges today.

Real sponges are colorful when they are alive, but their soft skeletons are sort of a sandy brown color. As far as I know, there’s no connection between the color of the animals and how much water their skeletons will hold.

Some sponges have hard skeletons, so they were never useful for making household sponges.

Lots of people find it hard to believe that sponges are animals. What characteristics make them animals?

Marine biologists study sponges. That may be a career you want to explore.