What is oval?

An oval is like a stretched-out circle, just like when you press your face into a balloon and stretch it from side to side.

Imagine you have a round ball, that's like a circle. Now, if you gently pull the top and bottom of the ball apart while keeping the sides still, it starts to look more like an egg or a racetrack. That shape is an oval!

An oval has two longer sides and two shorter sides, kind of like a flattened circle. If you roll an oval on the floor, it moves smoothly, just like a circle does.

Think about a football or a rugby ball, that’s an oval too! It's not as round as a basketball, but it's not completely flat either. You can find ovals everywhere: on a pizza, on a clock face, even in the shape of your smile when you're happy!

So next time you see something that looks like a stretched-out circle, you’ll know it’s an oval, and maybe even give it a little stretch yourself!