Jack’s Block Bridge

Jack makes a blue river from a scarf. His toy bus waits beside it. “How can the bus get across?” he asks Grandma.

He puts a block on each side of the river. A long strip of thin card rests across the gap. “Here is a bridge.”

Jack moves the bus onto the card. The middle dips. The bus stops. “My bridge is bending,” he says. Grandma looks at the gap.

“What could hold the middle up?” she asks. Jack picks up another broad block. He slides it under the lowest part of the card.

Now a support stands beneath the middle. Jack presses the card gently with his hand. It feels firmer. “Try the bus,” says Grandma.

Jack rolls the bus slowly onto the bridge. The card stays up. He rolls it past the middle and down onto the other bank.

“Across!” calls Jack. He brings the bus back. Grandma watches the support. It stays under the bridge as the bus goes over.

Jack puts a toy house beside the road. “The bus can come here now,” he says. He leaves the support in place for the next trip.