How do glaciers move through sliding and flowing?

Glaciers move by sliding and flowing, just like ice cream melting and sliding down a cone.

Imagine you're eating an ice cream cone on a hot day. The ice cream starts to melt, and instead of staying still, it slides down the cone, that's sliding! Glaciers do something similar when they move over the ground below them. If the glacier is warm enough or the ground beneath it is soft, the whole glacier can slide along like the ice cream sliding down your cone.

Now imagine you're holding a big block of ice in your hands, it’s hard and doesn’t bend easily. But if you put that ice block in the freezer for a while, it might get squishy and start to flow slowly, like honey. That's what happens with glaciers too! Over time, they can flow, moving gently from one place to another, just like how honey flows out of a jar.

Sometimes glaciers do both: slide when the ground is soft or warm, and flow when they're thick and slow-moving. It’s like having two ways to move, sliding for speed and flowing for smoothness!