Felix’s Printing Trail

Felix wants to make a trail across a long strip of paper. Dad brings two big foam shapes and some paint. Felix chooses a circle for the first print.

He dips the circle and presses it down. Then he makes another print close beside it. Soon a crowded row of green circles fills one end of the paper.

“There is nowhere for my trail to go,” he says. Dad brings another strip. Felix puts the first one nearby, where he can look back at what he tried.

On the new strip, Felix makes one circle and leaves a space. He adds a blue rectangle farther along. “A stepping stone and a bridge,” he decides.

He prints another circle, then another rectangle. The shapes begin to repeat. Felix follows them with his eyes. There is room to imagine walking from one to the next.

At the middle of the strip, he turns the rectangle sideways. The trail seems to change direction. Felix pauses before adding the next circle. Where might it lead?

He chooses a wide empty part of the paper and prints three circles there. “A place to stop,” he says. Dad asks whether the trail needs to carry on.

Felix studies it. He likes the open space at the end. Instead of filling it, he makes one small, light print beside the last circle. “A little pond.”

When the paint is dry, they lay the strip on the table and tell a journey. Dad crosses a pretend bridge. Felix stops at the three stepping stones.

“I did not use every bit of paper,” says Felix. He points to the space around his pond. “That is where the rest of the story can happen.”