What are convergent plate boundaries?

Convergent plate boundaries are places where two giant pieces of Earth’s crust push together like a big hug.

Imagine you're playing with building blocks. You have two long walls made of blocks, and they slowly move toward each other. When they meet, something has to happen, maybe one wall goes on top of the other, or they smash together and make a bigger pile.

At convergent plate boundaries, Earth's crust acts like those building blocks. The ground can feel like it’s being squeezed, just like when you press a cookie dough into a cookie press, everything gets pushed together!

Sometimes, one piece of Earth’s crust slides under another, like when your little brother slips under the blanket while you’re trying to snuggle. This is called subduction, and it can cause earthquakes or even volcanoes.

If two landmasses push together hard enough, they might pile up, just like stacking blocks until you make a tiny mountain. That’s what happened with the Himalayas! They're still growing taller because the Earth's plates keep pushing together.