Charlotte’s Picnic Shade

Charlotte sets a picnic for her dolls on a tray in the garden. The sun shines on their little table. “They need a shady place,” she tells Dad. He brings a broad piece of light card and some low supports.

Dad helps rest the card above one side of the tray. Charlotte looks at the roof from above. It seems big enough to cover the doll table. “That should do,” she says, bringing the dolls over from the bench.

But the shadow falls mostly beside the table. One doll sits in bright sunlight. Charlotte crouches down to look at the tray. “The roof is here, but the shade is over there,” she says. Dad points to the direction of the light.

They move the card towards the sunny side and change its angle. Dad holds the supports steady while Charlotte watches the shadow travel across the tray. “Stop there,” she says when the whole doll table is shaded.

Dad fixes the lightweight cover securely on the low supports. They leave the sides open. Charlotte checks that she can still reach the dolls and their cups without bumping the roof. The picnic has shade and room to play.

Later, Charlotte notices a strip of sunlight beside a doll’s plate. The sun has moved across the sky, so the shadow has shifted too. She asks Dad to help adjust the cover while the dolls wait on the bench.

They check the shadow on the tray again instead of guessing from the roof alone. Now the table is shaded once more. Charlotte puts the dolls back. “We have to look where the shade lands,” she explains.

At the end of the game, they take the cover down and save the card. Charlotte draws the doll table with its shady roof in her play notebook. Next time, she knows which part of the design she will check first.