PLAYTIME PROBLEMS
Miss Snake looked at her watch and said, "It's nearly break time. Tidy your desks please."
"What shall I do at playtime?" Zach Zebra said.
Liam Lion said he was playing football.
"Can I play?" Zach asked.
Liam nodded.
The Tiger twins, Tara and Tina, were going to play with their new skipping rope.
"Can I play?" Zach asked.
The Tiger twins nodded.
Maisie Monkey and her friends were going to play hide and seek.
"Can I play?" Zach asked.
Maisie nodded.
The animals ran out of the classroom and into the playground. Zach didn't know where to go first. He saw Liam Lion picking teams for football.
Zach ran over, "Wait for me!"
"Are you any good at football?" Liam asked.
"I don't know but I'll try my best," Zach smiled.
"You can be the goalkeeper," Liam suggested. "Keep your eye on the ball."
Zach kept his eye on the ball.
He watched as it was kicked towards him.
He watched as it slipped through his paws.
He watched as it landed in the goal behind him.
"Oops," Zach muttered.
Zach let in seven more goals before Liam told him to come out of goal.
"Can I try and score some goals instead?" Zach asked.
"Okay," Liam frowned. "Just concentrate on the ball."
I'll show him, Zach thought, I'll score 200 goals!
But Zach didn't score any goals.
He tripped over the ball.
He tripped over his own feet.
He even tripped over a bit of grass!
Zach sighed, "I've had enough of football. I'll play something else."
Zach saw the Tiger twins with their new skipping rope. He ran over and asked if he could play.
"Are you any good at skipping?" Tina asked.
"I don't know but I'll try my best," Zach smiled.
"We'll twirl the rope and you jump in," Tara said.
Zach got ready to jump in.
"Now!" the Tiger twins told him.
"It's too fast," Zach worried.
The Tiger twins twirled slower.
"Now!" they said.
"It's too slow," Zach complained.
"Just jump in," Tina ordered.
Zach jumped.
He skipped.
He slipped.
He tripped.
He fell.
Zach's feet got caught in the rope. He twisted and turned. He pulled the Tiger twins down with him.
"Don't move!" Tara said. "You're making it worse."
Zach kept still as Tina and Tara slowly untangled the rope.
When Zach was free he said, "I'm sorry for spoiling your game. I'll play something else."
Zach looked around the playground. He saw Maisie Monkey playing hide and seek with her friends. Zach trotted over and asked if he could join in.
"Are you any good at hide and seek?" Maisie asked.
"I don't know but I'll try my best," Zach smiled.
Maisie told Zach he could hide first while she counted to twenty.
Maisie closed her eyes and began to count.
Where can I hide? Zach thought.
He looked around the playground and noticed that George Gorilla was having a nap at the side of the playground. Zach hid behind him.
"Maisie will never find me here," Zach chuckled.
George's eyes snapped open.
"Who woke me up?" he growled.
Zach quickly moved away before George saw him.
Zach wasn't very good at hiding.
He tried to hide behind a spiky bush.
"Ouch!" he yelled as the bush prickled and tickled him.
Zach tried to hide behind a boulder. But the was picked up by Eddie Elephant.
"I'm making a den," Eddie explained.
As Zach looked around for somewhere else to hide he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Maisie.
"I found you. Did you even try to hide?" she asked. "It's my turn to hide now."
Zach closed his eyes and began to count. When he opened his eyes he couldn't see Maisie anywhere. Not even her ears or tail.
Zach searched the playground. He wandered onto the football area.
"Get out of the way!" the teams shouted.
Zach bumped into the Tiger twins.
"Watch out!" they warned.
Where is Maisie hiding? Zach thought.
Zach peeped behind the snoring George Gorilla. He peered around Eddie Elephant's den. He couldn't find Maisie anywhere.
Zach sighed and flopped down under a tree. He heard a rustling sound above him. He looked up and saw Maisie's little face grinning at him.
"You found me," she laughed. "Do you want to play again?"
Zach shook his head. "I'm not very good at hide and seek. Or skipping. Or football. I'm just going to sit here and watch everyone else."
"Okay," Maisie said."I thought you were good at hide and seek. You tried your best. If you change your mind come and find me. If you can!"
Zach laughed and waved goodbye to Maisie. He made himself comfortable under the tree and looked around him.
He watched the football game.
"Oh! Liam just let in a goal," Zach was surprised. "And now he's fallen over. I think he's as bad as me at football."
Zach turned to look at the Tiger twins.
Tina tripped over the rope. Tara shouted at her.
Tara slipped on the rope. Tina shouted at her.
Zach smiled as the Tiger twins got tangled up in the rope.
"That wasn't my fault this time," he said.
Zach looked at Maisie and her friends as they played hide and seek.
He tutted, "Those are rubbish hiding places. I can see them from here!"
Zach thought for a while and decided that he was just as good as everyone else at football, skipping and hide and seek.
"I think I might be even better than some of them," Zach told himself as he saw Liam let in another goal.
Before Zach could go and join in the games again the whistle was blown.
"End of break!" Miss Snake called. "Time to line up."
Zach was first in the line.
Liam bounded over. "Are you going to play football with us at next playtime?"
"I might," Zach replied.
The Tiger twins joined the line.
"Will you play skipping with us again?" they asked.
"I might," Zach replied.
Maisie joined the line and said to Zach, "You must play hide and seek with us again."
"I might," Zach replied.
As the line of animals walked back into the school Zach grinned.
"Why are you smiling?" Miss Snake asked.
"I've just had the best playtime ever!" Zach laughed. "I can't wait for the next one."