What is shy?

Shy is when someone feels nervous or unsure about talking to others, especially new people.

Imagine you're at a playground, and there's a big slide that everyone loves. You really want to go down it, but when you see a group of kids standing by the slide, you feel like they might laugh at you. That feeling, that little jumble in your stomach, is being shy.

Think of a shy squirrel hiding under a log. It sees a big dog walking by, and it doesn’t want to come out just yet. The squirrel might peek through the leaves or wait for the dog to walk away before it comes out. That’s like being shy, you see someone new, and you wait a little bit before saying hello.

Sometimes, once you get used to talking to people, that nervous feeling goes away. It's like the squirrel finally decides to come out of its log and join the fun!