Sophie’s Double Deck

Sophie and Jack were making a pretend double-decker bus from two cardboard boxes. Their teacher helped them join the boxes safely. “Our toy passengers need seats,” said Sophie. She found four large wooden blocks for the lower deck.

Jack looked through the craft basket. “How many seats should go upstairs?” he asked. Sophie peered into the bus. “Let’s give both decks the same number. If there are four below, we need four above.”

They laid four blocks in a row beside the bus. Then they made another row with four blocks. Sophie paired one block from the first row with one from the second. Each block had a partner. The groups were equal.

“We have doubled four,” said their teacher. Sophie counted both rows together. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.” Jack counted again. “Four and four make eight seats altogether. Eight passengers can sit down.”

They fitted four seats into each deck. But the upstairs box leaned forward when Jack put a toy dog near the front. Sophie steadied it. “The seats are right,” she said. “Our bus still needs a stronger base.”

Their teacher helped them add a broad cardboard base. The children placed the seats carefully again: four downstairs and four upstairs. The bus stood level. Jack tried the toy dog once more. This time, it stayed in place.

Sophie lined up eight toy passengers. She gave four a place downstairs and four a place upstairs. “There is a seat for everyone,” she said. Jack pretended to be the driver. “All aboard for the park!”

The bus travelled along a chalk road on the playground. Sophie made a gentle engine noise while Jack moved it slowly. At the pretend park, all eight passengers got off. Their double-decker bus was ready for another journey.