how is lighting formed

Alright, little buddy, let's imagine the clouds in the sky are like big, fluffy pillows. Inside these pillows, lots of tiny bits called "electricity" start jumping around, like when you rub a balloon on your hair and it makes your hair stand up funny!

Sometimes, too many of these tiny bits gather in one place and they really want to jump to another cloud or to the ground. When they do this, they make a giant spark in the sky, and that's what we call lightning! It's like when you see a big flash when you turn on a flashlight, but way, way bigger and brighter! And remember, after the flash, we often hear a big "BOOM!" called thunder. It's like the clouds are playing a giant drum!