Poppy’s Party Flags

Poppy and Max were getting the garden ready for a puppet show. Mum had tied a string between two low posts. “Ten flags will fit along here,” she said. Poppy opened the craft box. There were only six flags inside.

“We need more,” said Max. “But how many?” Poppy laid the six paper flags on a cloth. She did not want to make too many and waste the paper. “Let’s find out before we start cutting,” she said.

Mum brought a strip of card with ten empty spaces. Poppy put one flag in each of the first six spaces. Max pointed to the spaces still empty. “One, two, three, four. We need four more flags.”

Poppy chose some yellow paper. Max chose blue. Mum helped them cut four new flags. They kept the new flags in a separate group. “Six ready-made flags and four new ones,” said Poppy. “Will that make our ten?”

They put the four new flags into the empty spaces. Now every space held one flag. Poppy counted along the strip to check. Six and four made ten altogether. There were no empty spaces and no flags left over.

Mum helped them attach the flags to the string. Max passed them over one at a time. Poppy watched the empty cloth. “I liked using the spaces,” she said. “I could see what was missing without guessing.”

Just before the show, a little gust lifted the flags. The string swayed, but Mum had fastened it securely. Poppy tucked the paper scraps into the recycling box. Max fetched the puppets. The garden stage was nearly ready.

Their friends sat on a picnic rug. Above the stage, all ten flags fluttered in the breeze. Poppy lifted her puppet into view. “Welcome to our show!” she said. Max’s puppet gave a bow, and everyone laughed.