Deep in the colorful forest, where boxes of all shapes and sizes grew among the trees like mushrooms, lived a little squirrel named Nutty. One morning, Nutty found a perfect, small wooden box. “This is just right for my winter nuts!” he chirped happily.

Nutty hopped over to a leafy bush and found three round, brown nuts. He picked them up carefully and carried them back. “One, two, and three,” he counted as he dropped them into his new box. The bottom of the box was starting to fill up.

But the box wasn't full yet! Nutty scurried over to a tall oak tree and found four more crunchy nuts hidden under some yellow leaves. He gathered them all in his little paws and ran back to his box as fast as he could.

Nutty put the four new nuts into the box with the others. Suddenly, the box was very, very full! “Oh my,” Nutty said, looking at the big pile. “I have so many nuts now, but I don't know the total! It looks a bit messy.”

Just then, his friend Fluffy the squirrel hopped by. “Hello, Nutty!” Fluffy called out with a big wave. “That is a very full box you have there. Do you need some help counting your treasure?”

Nutty nodded happily. To see the nuts better, the two friends carefully poured them all out onto a flat, grey stone. “It is much easier to count when they are all spread out,” Fluffy suggested, peering at the pile.

“Let’s put them in groups!” said Nutty. They moved three nuts to one side of the stone and four nuts to the other side. Now the nuts were in two neat little groups, making the big pile look much simpler.

Fluffy touched each nut one by one with her paw. “One, two, three... four, five, six, seven!” she counted out loud. “Three and four make seven nuts in total!” Both squirrels cheered at the discovery.

Nutty looked at the two groups. “Look, Fluffy! The group of four is bigger than the group of three,” he noticed. He counted them again just to be sure. He learned that grouping made counting and comparing much easier.

Nutty and Fluffy put all seven nuts back into the box in neat, tidy rows. The box looked wonderful and organized. Nutty was happy to have his seven nuts ready for winter and an even better friend to help him.