What is reduce?

Reduce is like turning a big pile of toys into one special toy by playing a game with your friends.

Imagine you and your friends are all holding different toys, a ball, a car, a block, and a teddy bear. You want to pick just one toy that everyone agrees on as the best. So you play a game: each person takes turns saying why their toy is the best, and then you all decide together which one is the winner. After everyone has had their say, you end up with just one toy, the one that won the game.

That’s what reduce does! It starts with many things (like the toys) and ends with just one thing, by following a simple rule or game (like choosing the best toy).

Think of cleaning up your room. You have lots of clothes on the floor, shirts, pants, socks, hats. You want to pick one item that represents your whole messy room. So you say: "The most important thing is the sock because it's the weirdest." Now, all your mess becomes just one sock, that’s like reduce!

Reduce helps turn a lot of things into just one, by following a simple rule.