ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Circulatory system

Your body is like a city, and just like a city needs transportation to bring people and things around, your body need a transportation system to bring oxygen, nutrients, and other things to your organs and tissues.

This is where the circulatory system comes in. It is like a highway system that goes all over your body, bringing nutrients, oxygen, and even things like hormones and immune cells to where they are needed.

The circulatory system is made up of your heart, your blood vessels (which are like the highways), and your blood (which goes through your vessels, bringing important things all over your body). Your heart is like a big pump. It pumps blood through your blood vessels, with the help of little doors called valves.

When you breathe in, oxygen goes into your lungs and then goes into your blood. Your heart pumps this oxygen-rich blood to all parts of your body through arteries. Arteries are like roads taking the blood away from your heart.

But then, the blood gets all full of yucky stuff, like carbon dioxide and waste. Your blood then needs to go back to your heart to be refreshed with oxygen. So this is where veins come in. Veins are like roads that bring the yucky blood back to your heart.

Once your yucky blood goes back to your heart, it gets pumped through your lungs where you exhale the carbon dioxide and breathe in more oxygen. And then the cycle starts all over again!

The circulatory system is really important because it brings all the good stuff your body needs to all parts of your body and takes away all the bad stuff that it doesn't need. So next time you have a bike ride or run around, imagine your circulatory system working hard bringing your body the oxygen and nutrients it needs to keep you going!