From story to discovery
Try it together.
Where does the next picture send you?
Gather
Three simple picture cards: basket, cup, cloth; Basket; Large empty cup; Cloth; Large toy.
Adult setup — read before trying
Choose one safe area with three low reachable stops: basket, large empty plastic cup and cloth. Use a large age-appropriate toy and picture cards that clearly match these objects. An adult prepares and cuts cards, then puts the scissors away. Check the whole chain before inviting the child.
- Grown-up prepares three reachable stops in one agreed area. Hide a large toy under a cloth.
- Place the CLOTH picture card in an empty cup. Place the CUP card inside a basket. Give the child the BASKET card.
- Child matches the first card to the real basket, looks inside and finds the cup picture. Leave the basket card by the basket.
- Follow the cup picture to the real cup and find the cloth picture. Leave the cup card by the cup.
- Find the cloth, set its card beside it and lift it to reveal the toy.
- Swap: child makes a one- or two-stop hunt for the grown-up. Adult checks the hiding places.
- Keep the same
- The three reachable stops remain basket, cup and cloth. Each card depicts exactly one of them; the large toy is under the cloth until the reveal.
- What changes
- Benny carries the current clue to its matching stop, leaves the used card there and takes the next card: basket, cup, cloth. Lifting the cloth reveals the toy.
- Look for
- Each picture names the NEXT place to look: basket, then cup, then cloth. Finding a new card advances the hunt; the toy under the cloth completes it.
Make sense of what happened
Each picture names the NEXT place to look: basket, then cup, then cloth. Finding a new card advances the hunt; the toy under the cloth completes it.
Pictures show the next place to look, not a route map or a reading test. Prepare the chain backwards and check it before play. The illustrated three-stop route is one example; a one-stop hunt is a complete starting game.
Full grown-up notes, setup details & honest limits
Set the clue chain backwards: toy under cloth, cloth card in cup, cup card in basket, then give the basket card. Stay together within the agreed area and let the child choose or direct each next move. Help them make a short hunt for your turn.
Pictures show the next place to look, not a route map or a reading test. Prepare the chain backwards and check it before play. The illustrated three-stop route is one example; a one-stop hunt is a complete starting game.
These are authored shared-play examples. Suggested ages and times are starting points, not an assessment or evidence of measured learning outcomes.
A conversation, not a quiz
Leave room for their idea.
Set the clue chain backwards: toy under cloth, cloth card in cup, cup card in basket, then give the basket card. Stay together within the agreed area and let the child choose or direct each next move. Help them make a short hunt for your turn.
What picture do we give the child at the start?
A cue for the grown-up
The basket card. The cup card goes inside the basket, and the cloth card goes inside the cup.
Benny finds a cup picture in the basket. Where should he look next?
A cue for the grown-up
Inside the real cup. Leave the used basket card beside the basket.
What finishes the pictured hunt?
A cue for the grown-up
Following the cloth card to the real cloth and lifting it to find the large toy duck. Then the child can make a shorter hunt for the grown-up.
A simple way in
Start with one picture and one reachable stop. The child may point and direct the grown-up.
Another thing to notice
Let the child draw or choose pictures for a one- or two-stop hunt. Help place the clues in reverse order and check the route before the grown-up follows it.
Come back to it
Change one safe stop on another day and draw its matching picture. Keep the route short enough to follow together.
For teachers
A small-group discovery.
Flexible 15-minute small-group sequence; prepare materials first, and shorten or pause as needed.
Prepare the named materials and adult setup above. One adult-led demonstration is a useful option.
- 2 min
Match a picture and place
Show the first card and invite pointing toward its real match. Explain the agreed search area.
- 3 min
Follow Benny’s chain
Read pages 1–4, pausing on page 3 to name the next place. Follow the cloth clue to the reveal on pages 5–6.
- 7 min
Take turns guiding a hunt
Try an adult-prepared one- to three-stop hunt. Leave each used card at its stop. Help children make a one- or two-stop version for a partner or grown-up, with adult-checked locations.
- 3 min
Retell the places
Use the cards to show where the hunt went first, next and last. Accept pointing or adult-directed movement.
What to listen for
The child can match the current picture to a reachable stop or direct another player there, then show the next clue. Remembering the full chain unaided is optional.
Answer guidance
Each picture names the NEXT place to look: basket, then cup, then cloth. Finding a new card advances the hunt; the toy under the cloth completes it.
Ways to take part
Accept pointing, showing, home-language words or directing an adult. Keep the materials within comfortable reach; no spoken answer is required. Start with one picture and one reachable stop. The child may point and direct the grown-up.
Record an observation with a drawing, a gesture described by an adult or a sentence. No timed performance or winning prediction is needed.
All the story words.
Read aloud, enlarge the browser text, or use this text alongside the pictures.
Page 1 · Grown-up, hide clues. Child, take the card.
Grown-up, hide clues. Child, take the card. Kiddos Books · © Kiddos LLC 1 / 7
Picture description: Page 1 of 7. Grown-up, hide clues. Child, take the card. Benny holds a card showing a wicker basket and looks toward the real basket farther along the woodland path.
Page 2 · Find the basket.
Find the basket. Kiddos Books · © Kiddos LLC 2 / 7
Picture description: Page 2 of 7. Find the basket. Seen from behind and to the side, Benny leans into the wicker basket and reaches for a face-down cream card.
Page 3 · A new clue! What does it show?
A new clue! What does it show? Kiddos Books · © Kiddos LLC 3 / 7
Picture description: Page 3 of 7. A new clue! What does it show? Benny holds the new card, which shows a blue cup with a handle. His previous basket picture rests on the ground beside the basket.
Page 4 · Look inside the cup.
Look inside the cup. Kiddos Books · © Kiddos LLC 4 / 7
Picture description: Page 4 of 7. Look inside the cup. At a different tree root, Benny takes a card showing a yellow cloth from the blue handled cup.
Page 5 · Find the cloth. Look underneath.
Find the cloth. Look underneath. Kiddos Books · © Kiddos LLC 5 / 7
Picture description: Page 5 of 7. Find the cloth. Look underneath. Benny kneels beside a mossy rock and lifts one corner of the yellow cloth. Only the toy duck’s orange bill peeks out; the cloth-picture card lies on the ground below.
Page 6 · You followed every clue!
You followed every clue! Kiddos Books · © Kiddos LLC 6 / 7
Picture description: Page 6 of 7. You followed every clue! Benny lifts the whole yellow toy duck, with the yellow cloth set aside. He has reached the end of the picture-clue hunt.
Page 7 · Make a little hunt for your grown-up.
Make a little hunt for your grown-up. Kiddos Books · © Kiddos LLC 7 / 7
Picture description: Page 7 of 7. Make a little hunt for your grown-up. Benny uses a crayon to draw a blue handled cup on a cream card, ready to make a new hunt. The toy duck sits beside him.
Where the explanation comes from.
Related storybooks invite further reading. The factual sources below support the investigation; illustration diagrams simplify what happens.
