How Does The Heart 101 Work?

The heart is like a pump that helps blood move all around your body, just like how a water pump moves water from one place to another.

Imagine you're drinking juice from a cup with a straw. You suck on the straw, and juice goes up into your mouth, that’s kind of how your heart works! Your heart is a strong muscle that pushes blood out through tubes called blood vessels, like roads for cars (but for blood instead).

Your heart has four chambers, think of them as rooms in a house. Two top rooms pump blood to the lungs, and two bottom rooms send blood back to the rest of your body. Every time your heart beats, it sends a fresh wave of blood out like a wave in the ocean.

Your heart never stops working, not even when you're sleeping! It keeps going all day long, just like how your favorite toy keeps running even when you’re playing with something else. Without your heart, blood wouldn’t move, and your body wouldn’t get the food and oxygen it needs to stay alive.