how does the internet work

The internet is like a really big city made up of millions of houses (computers). Each house can communicate with other houses using special roads (wires and cables) that connect them all together. The roads that join the houses are like a phone network which sends messages (data) back and forth to each other. When a message is sent from one house to another, it passes through a special switchboard (router) which reads the address (IP address) of where the message is going and finds the best way to get it there. Finally, it arrives at the other house and the data is opened like an envelope (packet) to let the message inside.