Explain Blockchain to a 3-year-old

You may have also been asked “what is blockchain” by a layperson. Or maybe you are a layman yourself. Here is the simplest explanation of blockchain technology.

Emin Araki
3 min readJan 12, 2023
Photo: Shubham Dhage

I remember sitting in an online class and the instructor said he had never heard a simple explanation of the blockchain. And he’s not wrong — which is why I thought about how I would explain it to a 3-year-old human child so that even the last adult would understand it.

Interesting facts about the understanding of logic for children
Research suggests that infants as young as 6 months old are capable of demonstrating basic logical reasoning skills, such as understanding cause-and-effect relationships and recognizing patterns. As they get older, their understanding of logic becomes more advanced, and by the age of 3 or 4, they are able to understand and use more complex logical concepts.

Blockchain Technology

Blockchain technology can be a difficult concept to grasp, even for adults. But with the right approach, it’s possible to explain the basics of blockchain to a 3-year-old in a way that they can understand.

First, let’s start with the basics. Blockchain is a digital ledger that records transactions. Think of it like a big notebook where we write down who gave what to whom. Just like a notebook, it’s hard to change what’s already been written down, so it’s a way of keeping track of things that are fair and can’t be changed.

Simple Analogy for a 3-year-old

Now, let’s use a simple analogy to explain how blockchain works. Imagine a game where you and your friends take turns adding blocks to a tower. Each block represents a transaction, like giving a toy to a friend. Once a block is added to the tower, it can’t be removed or changed. And just like the blocks in the tower, the blocks in a blockchain are connected to each other, forming a chain.

Screenshot of the videogame Minecraft

Now, let’s talk about why this is important. In the real world, we use money and banks to keep track of transactions. But sometimes, people cheat and try to change what’s been recorded. With blockchain, we don’t need banks to keep track of transactions because it’s all recorded in the blockchain and can’t be changed. It’s like a big tower where everyone can see what’s been given and who has it.

So, to explain blockchain to a 3-year-old, you can use the example of a game where friends take turns adding blocks to a tower. The blocks represent transactions, and once they’re added to the tower, they can’t be removed or changed. The tower is like a big notebook that keeps track of things in a fair way.

In summary, blockchain is a digital ledger that records transactions in a way that can’t be changed. You can explain it to a 3-year-old by using the analogy of a game where friends take turns adding blocks to a tower, with each block representing a transaction, and the tower being a big notebook that keeps track of things in a fair way.

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Emin Araki

Multifaceted web programmer and designer, skilled in game development .