Quick, which orange circle is bigger? Believe it or not, they’re the same size! The blue circles play a trick on you called an optical illusion: a picture that looks different from what is really happening. The different sizes of the blue circles make the orange circles look different. Try covering some of the blue circles with your fingers, or measure them with a ruler if you’re still not sure!
Wee ones: Point to one of the bigger blue circles, then count up all of them! How many bigger blue circles are there?
Little kids: If there are 8 small blue circles and 6 big blue circles, how many more small blue circles are there? Bonus: How many blue circles does that make all together?
Big kids: How many circles would you have to add to the picture to have 20 total circles? Bonus: If you show this illusion to 24 people and 1/3 of them figure out the truth, how many people get fooled by it?
Answers:
Wee ones: There are 6 bigger blue circles on the left side of the picture.
Little kids: 2 more small blue circles. Bonus: 14 blue circles.
Big kids: 4 more circles, because there are 16 circles already in the picture. Bonus: 16 people get fooled. 1/3 of 24 makes 8 people that don’t get fooled, and 24 – 8 = 16.
