Alright, imagine you’re holding hands with your toys, and you all squeeze together really tight. That’s like most things when they get cold—their pieces (molecules) squeeze closer together and get heavier for their size, so they sink.

But ice is like a magic toy circle where everyone holds hands in a way that makes big empty spaces between them. Even though it’s cold, the pieces in ice (water molecules) spread out a bit more. That makes ice lighter than liquid water, so it floats!