How Do Planets Stay in Their Orbits Around the Sun?

Imagine you're on a swing. When you pump your legs, you keep going higher and higher, just like planets keep moving around the Sun. Gravity is like an invisible rope that pulls them back toward the Sun, but their speed keeps them from falling all the way in. It's like dancing with gravity: one pulls, the other pushes.

Planets are constantly being pulled by the Sun’s gravity, but they’re also moving sideways, and that motion keeps them from crashing into it. If a planet moved too slowly, it would fall toward the Sun. But if it moved fast enough, it stays in its orbit, like a ball on a string going around in circles.