The Flat Floor

Ages 6-9

Ella sets six paper cups in a tower.

Her friend adds the top one. The tower leans.

Ella pulls it away before the whole tower falls.

"It leans," she says.

Her friend puts down the cup.

Ella looks at the bottom row. One cup stands on a folded rug corner. Its rim tilts above the others.

She lifts the next row off. She moves that bottom cup onto the flat floor.

The tower has only one row now.

Her friend watches beside the loose top cup.

Ella points to the space beside the bottom row.

"Can you put this one here?"

Her friend sets it down. Its rim matches the others.

They add the second row together.

At the top, Ella leaves room for her friend's last cup.

The friend puts it in place. Beneath it, the bottom row stands on the flat floor, clear of the folded rug.