Hi! Let's learn about your heart.
Your heart is a strong muscle inside your chest. It works like a little pump. The heart does two main things over and over:
- It squeezes: When the heart squeezes, it pushes blood out to your body and to your lungs. This is like squeezing a soft toy that squirts water — the squeeze sends the water out.
- It relaxes: After the squeeze, the heart relaxes and fills up with blood again, ready to squeeze one more time. This is like letting the toy fill with water again.
When the heart squeezes and relaxes, you hear a "lub-dub" sound. That sound is made by tiny doors called valves closing to keep the blood going the right way.
Try this fun thing: put two fingers on your wrist or on the side of your neck and feel the tiny bumps — that is your heartbeat. Each bump is one squeeze and one relax.
So: squeeze = push blood out, relax = fill up again. Your heart does this all day to keep you moving and playing!