Explain · Like I'm five version
The water cycle in terms of a kettle
The water cycle is just the world acting like one giant, never ending kettle.
When you turn a kettle on, the water gets hot and turns into steam that floats up to the ceiling. In the big world, the sun heats up the water in the sea and the rivers. This turns the water into invisible bits called vapour that rise high up into the sky, just like the steam rising from your kitchen appliance.
When the steam hits the cold lid of the kettle, it turns back into tiny drops of water that cling to the metal. High up in the sky, the air is cold too. The vapour cools down and turns back into liquid water droplets. These droplets bunch together to form big, fluffy clouds, which are basically just a giant, floating lid full of drips.
Eventually, the drops in the kettle get too heavy and slide back down into the pot. When the clouds get too full, the water falls back to the ground as rain or snow. It fills up the rivers and the puddles and runs back into the sea to start all over again. It is a big loop of boiling, floating, cooling and falling, just like your morning cup of tea.
Where the analogy breaks downThe kettle does not magically refill itself from the sink every time you pour a mug.