How on Earth are mountains made?

Mountains are made when parts of the Earth push up against each other like a big, slow game of tag.

Imagine you and your friend are playing tag on a really bumpy floor. Every time one of you runs into the other, the bump gets bigger. That’s kind of what happens with mountains, except instead of you and your friend, it's huge pieces of the Earth called plates.

The Earth is like a giant puzzle made of big, moving pieces called tectonic plates. These plates are always moving slowly, sometimes toward each other, sometimes away, or even past each other.

When two plates crash into each other, one might push up against the other, making the ground rise. This rising movement is what creates a mountain, like when you press your hand against a stack of books and they get taller.

Sometimes this pushing happens for millions of years! That’s why mountains can be so tall and strong, just like how a really long game of tag can make the bumps on the floor really big.