How do you tell a living thing from a non living one?

When my daughter was about 5 years old, I was teaching her the difference between living things and non-living things.To drive home the point better, I told her:

“Livings things grow and become bigger.”

I quoted some examples, like a chick becomes a hen, a tiny calf becomes a cow and a baby grows into an adult.

I added: “Non-living things do not change their size ever”

My  clever daughter’s very intelligent question astounded me .

“Mummy, is a pencil a living or non-living thing? A pencil becomes smaller than it’s original size when we use it.”

Story By: SS. Written By:Gulsum Basheer@talkalittledo