The outdoor play area sat beside a meadow bright with buttercups, blue flowers, and tiny white blossoms. A soft breeze moved through the tall grass, making the meadow ripple like a green blanket.
Maya carried two little sticks to the meadow’s edge. She pressed one stick into the ground on the left and one on the right. Then she stood between them and smiled.
“Today we’re playing ‘Which Patch Has More?’” she announced. “We look at the flowers in each marked patch, count them, and compare the numbers. We don’t pick the flowers. We just use our eyes and our counting voices.”
Maya bent beside the first stick. “One, two, three, four!” she counted. Four yellow flowers nodded in the breeze.
Then she walked to the other stick. “One, two, three, four, five, six!”
“Which patch has more?” Maya asked.
“The second patch!” called two children nearby.
Just then, a swallow swooped over the meadow. Wren’s dark wings flashed in the sunlight. The bird curved up, dipped down, and zipped past the fence before rising high into the blue sky.
Maya watched for a moment. “Wren is flying fast today,” she said. “Maybe Wren likes our flower game.”
At the gate, a boy stood very quietly. He held the strap of his small backpack and watched the children count. This was Nico, who had joined the preschool that morning.
Maya noticed him. She picked up one of the counting sticks and walked over.
“Hi, Nico,” she said. “Would you like to try a turn?”
Nico looked at the flower patches. “I don’t know how.”
“That’s okay,” Maya said. “I’ll show you. We count the flowers in one patch, then the flowers in the other patch. After that, we see which number is bigger.”
She led him to the left-hand patch. The breeze bent the flowers, and one small blossom hid behind a leaf.
“Let’s look carefully,” Maya said.
Nico crouched beside her. He waited until the flower lifted its yellow face. “One, two, three,” he counted. “Four.”
“Great counting,” Maya said. “Now let’s count the other patch.”
They walked to the right-hand stick. Nico pointed without touching the flowers. “One, two, three, four, five.”
“So which patch has more?” Maya asked.
“The right patch,” Nico said.
“You got it!” Maya clapped softly. “You counted four and five. Five is more than four.”
Nico’s shoulders relaxed, and a small smile appeared.
Maya was about to set up another round when a sudden puff of wind rolled the left-hand stick across the dirt. It bumped gently against a patch of clover and stopped.
“Oh!” Maya said. “Our marker moved. Now we need to decide where the patch begins.”
Nico pointed to a row of flat stones near the grass. “Could we use those?”
“That’s a good idea,” Maya said.
Together, they placed two stones near the edge of the flowers. Maya made sure the stones did not cover any blossoms. The patch was ready again.
Then she turned to Nico. “What part of the game would you enjoy most?”
Nico looked from one patch to the other. He bent his knees and gave a tiny hop.
“Hopping,” he said.
“Hopping?” Maya asked.
Nico nodded. “I could hop while I count.”
“Let’s make that our next round!” Maya said.
She placed a flat stone beside each patch. “Hop from this stone to that stone. Count the flowers as you go. Then we’ll compare the numbers.”
Nico took a breath. He hopped once toward the first patch. “One!”
He hopped again. “Two! Three!”
A flower dipped low, so Nico paused and leaned closer. When it rose again, he finished. “Four!”
Everyone cheered.
Nico turned and hopped toward the second patch. “One, two, three, four, five, six!”
“Six is more than four!” Maya called.
At that moment, Wren swooped overhead again. The swallow skimmed above the meadow, then circled over the two children. Nico looked up, laughing.
“Wren saw my hopping!” he said.
Maya grinned. “I think Wren saw your careful counting, too.”
Soon Maya took a turn while Nico counted. She hopped too quickly at first and almost skipped a flower tucked beneath a broad green leaf. Nico raised his hand.
“Wait! There’s one hiding!” he said.
Maya stopped, found the flower, and counted it. “You’re right. Thank you!”
Then Nico made a new round for Maya. He chose two patches with bright blue flowers and counted them slowly. Maya waited, listened, and cheered when he finished.
Back and forth they played. Sometimes Maya had more flowers. Sometimes Nico did. Once, the numbers were the same, and they both shouted, “Equal!”
The meadow grew quiet as the afternoon light turned golden. Wren settled on the fence for a moment, its small chest rising and falling after all that flying.
Maya and Nico sat beside the counting stones. They watched the flowers sway without picking a single one.
“Will you play with me tomorrow?” Maya asked.
Nico smiled. “Yes. Maybe we can hop even farther.”
Above them, Wren lifted from the fence and glided over the meadow. Maya and Nico waved as the swallow disappeared into the warm evening sky. The flower patches rested side by side in the soft, whispering grass.
Talk about the story
1.What game did Maya play in the meadow?
2.How many flowers did Maya count in the first patch?
3.Who had joined the preschool that morning?
4.What did Maya and Nico use when the counting stick moved?
5.What part of the game did Nico enjoy most?
