What are trade winds?

Trade winds are like big fans that blow air across the Earth from one side to the other.

Imagine you're playing in a big park on a hot day. The sun warms up the ground, and the air near it gets warm too. Warm air is lighter, so it goes up, kind of like how hot air balloons float. When the warm air rises, cooler air from nearby comes in to take its place, this is what makes the wind.

Now picture the Earth as a giant ball, and the trade winds are like two big fans on either side, blowing air around the middle part of the planet. One fan is near the top of the Earth (in the northern half), and the other is near the bottom (in the southern half). These fans help ships sail smoothly across the ocean, that’s why sailors used to love them!

• The sun heats up the air near the equator, making it rise.
• Cooler air from higher latitudes moves in to replace it, this moving air is the trade wind.
• This pattern repeats every day, like a gentle but steady breeze that helps things move along.