Why do magnets attract or repel each other in specific ways?

Magnets have special teams inside them that either want to be friends or don’t like each other, and this makes them pull together or push apart.

Imagine you have two toy cars on a track. If both cars are going the same way, they’ll help each other and move faster, that’s like magnets attracting each other. But if one car is going forward and the other is going backward, they bump into each other and slow down, that’s like magnets repelling.

Every magnet has two ends: one might be called “north” and the other “south.” These ends have tiny little helpers inside them. If you bring together a north end of one magnet with a south end of another, they say, “Hey, we’re friends!”, and pull each other close.

But if you try to put two north ends or two south ends together, they say, “No way! We don’t like each other!”, and push each other apart.

It’s just like when your friend likes the same ice cream as you, you both go for it. But if you both pick the last scoop of chocolate, you might argue a little!