Light explained to kids

Light is a type of energy that travels through the air and is used to see things. It is made up of tiny particles called photons. When light hits an object, some of the photons bounce off the object and into our eyes. This is how we see things. Light is also used to make things hot. This happens because the photons in light have energy. When they hit something, they make the atoms in that object move faster. This makes the object warmer. We need light to see, but too much light can hurt our eyes. That is why we have eyelids to protect our eyes from the bright light of the Sun. We also need light to grow food. Plants need light to turn sunlight into food. This process is called photosynthesis. Light travels at a very fast speed. It is the fastest thing in the universe! It can travel around the world seven times in one second! Light can be different colors. The colors of light are made up of different wavelengths. Red light has the longest wavelength and violet light has the shortest wavelength. White light is made up of all the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Black is the absence of color. We see different colors when different objects reflect different colors of light. For example, a green object reflects green light and absorbs all the other colors. Some objects absorb all colors of light. They look black because they reflect no light at all.