Timmy the Ant Goes to the Playground (Toddler version)

Written & Illustrated by: Laurie Trotman

Hello! My name is Timmy and I am an ant.

I like to discover new things to do.

Sometimes I ride on a school beetle and go to school!

Last week, when I was on my way to school, I was reading a book. It was such a fun book, with a lot of pictures, that I forgot to get off the beetle when we went by the school.

I jumped off the beetle and saw a park. There were swings, slides, and children playing everywhere. I saw a little girl playing in the sand with a dolly.

I walked over to the sand and said, “Hello, my name is Timmy, what’s yours?”

The little girl said, “My name is Mae! I didn’t know that ants could talk!” “Well I can talk,” I said, “but I’ve never been to a playground before. Miss Mae, will you show me around this playground?” Mae was very excited. She picked me up and ran to the swings.

First, she showed me how she likes to swing. She was laughing and said, “This is so much fun. Are you ready to try?” I was excited, but also very frightened because I’m so small. Mae put me on the swing and pushed me VERY high!

I thought that I was going to fly off. I asked her if she would please help me off the swing. Just then, another little girl came up to us. Mae said that this girl was her sister. Her name was Winter.

I removed my hat, bowed, and said, “Good day Winter! It is nice to meet you!” Winter’s eyes lit up and then she asked if she could hold me. She asked if I wanted to go down the slide with her.

It was a very high slide that went around and around. I asked if we could go on the smaller slide first. I was a little afraid, but Winter was very kind to me and held me close. “Sure,” she said, “Hold on tight, here we go!” We slid straight down.

It was only a little scary.

It was now time for me to go back home to my anthill. Mae and Winter asked me if my mom lived in the anthill. “Yes,” I said. I told them that my mom is a queen ant and her name is Queen Sally. She is very beautiful.

“Now, I need to go home, clean my room, and eat dinner,” I told them. “Thank you for showing me all of the fun things to do at the park. I hope to see you again real soon!” Then I waved goodbye and ran to get back onto the school beetle.