Pearl’s Shell Mobile

Pearl and Martha hang three shells from a wooden stick to make a mobile. Mum has helped them tie the strings. The girls carry their work into the garden.

A breeze turns the shells, but their strings twist together. Pearl lowers the mobile onto the table before the knots become too tight to loosen.

Martha notices all three strings near the middle of the stick. “The shells have hardly any space,” she says. She gently separates two of them.

The girls untangle the strings while Mum holds the stick still. They lay each shell on the table. Now they can see which string belongs to it.

Pearl slides the loose knots farther apart along the stick. Martha checks that the shells can hang without touching. Then Mum helps tighten the knots again.

They lift the mobile slowly and watch the shells settle. There is now a clear space between them, and the strings hang straight beneath the stick.

Mum hangs it from a low hook under the veranda roof. In the gentle breeze, the shells move separately without winding around each other.

The girls sit nearby and enjoy the quiet movement of their mobile. “We gave the shells more room,” says Pearl. She is pleased their small change worked.