Christopher’s Map

Christopher and Colin follow a picture map during a park game with Mum. Their first clue sends them to the wooden bench beside the pond.

A yellow card should show them where to go next, but the bench is empty. Christopher checks the map again while Colin looks around the dry path.

“Perhaps someone has taken our clue,” says Colin. Mum asks them to look carefully before deciding what happened. The boys search nearby.

Christopher notices a yellow corner beneath one leg of the bench. He crouches on the path and reaches for the card. It has slipped into the grass.

The picture shows an oak leaf with a wide, wavy edge. Colin compares it with the trees around them. He spots a large oak across the lawn.

They walk towards the oak with Mum. They keep their map open between them. At its base is a small basket of wooden animals for their next game.

Christopher and Colin make a pretend woodland home beneath the tree. They put fallen leaves around the toy animals. Then they ask Mum to guess where each one lives.

Before leaving, they collect the toys and the yellow clue card. “We nearly missed the next part,” says Christopher, “but looking carefully helped us find it.”