Why is it night somewhere when it is day here?

Think about a sunny morning. You feel warm light on your cheeks and see a bright blue sky. Yet far away, a child sleeps snug in bed under a dark, starry sky.

How can that be? Why is it night somewhere when it is day here? Let's find out together.

Our home is a planet, which means a giant round ball floating in space. You live on it, and so do children far across the sea. It is so big that it looks flat when you stand on it.

Far out in space shines the Sun. The Sun is like a huge, bright lamp. It sends light and warm sunshine to our planet.

Now picture a lamp in a dark room, with a big ball beside it. The lamp shines only on the side of the ball that faces it. What do you think the back of the ball gets?

The back of the ball stays dark. The ball itself blocks the light, so no light reaches the back. Only shadow waits there.

Our planet works just like that ball. The Sun lights up the side that faces it, and there it is day. Your home sits on that bright side this morning.

On the side facing away from the Sun, our planet blocks the sunlight. There it is night, and children sleep in their beds under a dark sky.

Our new word today was planet. The Sun lights one side of our planet, so the other side has night.

When your sky turns dark tonight, other children play on the bright, sunny side of our planet.