Plank the Beaver Bridges the Pit

Plank is a sturdy, hard-working beaver with a broad flat tail, busy paws, and a stack of little planks always at the ready. And Plank has the most useful job on the whole obstacle course: whenever there’s a deep pit that traps poor Nims, Plank bridges it.

“A deep pit is only a problem until you BRIDGE it,” Plank says cheerfully, patting a plank into place. “Watch.”

Here is how it works. Nims can climb up only ONE step at a time. So a deep, deep pit - two steps, three steps down - is a trap. Nims falls in, and then he stands at the bottom and can’t climb out, because the walls are too tall for one step.

But Plank knows the fix. “You don’t have to make the pit disappear,” Plank explains. “You just have to make the climb OUT only one step at a time.” So Plank fills the pit part-way, or lays a step, or stacks a block - building it up so that instead of one deep drop, there’s a gentle little staircase. One step. Then one step. Then one step. And now Nims can climb right out, easy as anything.

“See?” Plank says, tail thumping happily. “The pit is still there - but it’s BRIDGED. Every climb out is just one step high. Now it’s fair. Now Nims can cross it.”

A young rabbit watching claps her paws. “So you don’t remove the hard bit - you build a fair way THROUGH it!”

“Exactly!” says Plank. “That’s what a bridge is. A fair way through.”

That is Plank’s busy, helpful idea.

Found a deep pit? Bridge it! Fill it up or lay a step, so the climb out is only one step high.

A grown-up can play too! Find a deep gap between two cushions or two blocks. Too big to step across in one go? Then BRIDGE it - lay something across, or build a little step in the middle - so it becomes two small steps instead of one giant leap. You just built a bridge! Now a little toy could cross it, one step at a time.

When Plank finishes bridging the last deep pit and Nims trots straight across without getting stuck once, Plank sits back on his broad tail with a warm, satisfied sigh. “Every pit bridged,” he says happily. “Every climb one step. A fair way through, all the way to the flag. That’s good building.”

Deep pit? Bridge it, one step high. That’s Plank.