My 5 year old asked me this question and I was unable to explain why!
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Have him hold a few things that are heavier, and then explain that all the rocks in the Earth attract all other objects and pull them down, and that’s what gravity is. It’s a property that all materials, not just rocks, but also water and air and everything, attract all other materials in the vicinity.
So the Earth is shaped like a ball because that’s the shape that happens when every material tries to squeeze itself into the smallest space. Like if you take a bunch of snow and try to squeeze it into the smallest space, you get a snow ball; a ball is the shape that holds the most material in the smallest space.
If he has questions about how matter can attract matter, just explain that this is how things are; scientists have studied gravity and he’ll learn about it in school. But as another example, get some magnets and explain that magnets attract other magnets just like gravity, except that it’s not gravity it’s magnets, but he can play with the magnets and feel the force between them, and then when he holds the heavy objects again, he’ll get that gravity pulling down on the heavy object is the same as magnets pulling each other close.
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