Oscillating chemical reactions are truly spectacular phenomena, and demonstrations are always appreciated by the class. However, explaining such reactions to high school or first-year university students is problematic, because it may seem that no acceptable explanation is possible unless the students have profound knowledge of both physical chemistry and mathematics. Two analogies are therefore offered in the belief that they are useful aids for facilitating some basic understanding of oscillating chemical reactions but without any mention of somewhat technical terms like "systems far from equilibrium," "self-organization," or "consecutive chemical reactions," and with no use of calculus (differential equations).