What are deserts?

A desert is a place that gets very little rain and can feel really hot or really cold.

Imagine you have a sandbox, but instead of playing with toys, you just keep adding more sand, no water, no shade, and the sun beats down all day long. That’s kind of like a desert!

Deserts don’t always look sandy. Some are rocky, some are covered in plants that can survive without much water. But what they all have in common is very little rain, sometimes only a few times a year. It's like having a cookie jar that you only open once every month.

Not all deserts are hot. Some, like the ones near the North Pole, can be super cold! These are called cold deserts. They still get very little rain, but instead of feeling like a sandy beach in the middle of summer, they feel more like being outside on a really chilly winter day.

So whether it’s hot or cold, a desert is just a place that doesn’t get much water, and sometimes, it feels like you’re playing in a never-ending sandbox!