Mating effort

Mating effort is something we do to try and find a good mate and have babies. Just like when we want to build a house, we have to put in a lot of effort to make sure we have all the materials we need, when we want to have babies, we have to try really hard to find a good person to have babies with.

Boys and girls do things differently to try and show they would be a good mate. For example, boys might try to be really strong and show off their muscles to show they could protect their family. Girls might wear pretty dresses and put on makeup to show they would be a good person to take care of children.

Sometimes people even try to compete with each other to show they are the best mate. This can be like when we play games with our friends to see who can be the best at throwing a ball or running really fast. People try to show they are the best mate so they can have lots of babies and keep their family strong.