The Cat in Charge

Cats love to chase mice, and they're much better than people at it. At 10 Downing Street, where the United Kingdom's Prime Minister lives, there's an official job for a cat called Chief Mouser. It's all pretty simple: the cat lives in the house, and knows what to do without being told. Larry, in the picture, has been Chief Mouser since 2011, but a cat named Wilberforce served for 18 years under 4 Prime Ministers in a row. It must be nice to have a job where all you have to do is eat!

Wee Ones: Larry has 4 paws. Can you count to 4 out loud?

Little Kids: If Chief Mouser catches a mouse, how many feet do they have together?
Bonus: If Wilberforce served for 18 years. how much longer than your whole life is that?

Big Kids: If the Chief Mouser is fed 2 meals a day and also catches 1 mouse every day, how many times does the cat eat in 1 week?
Bonus: If the Chief Mouser catches 3 new mice every day, how many mice does the Chief Mouser catch this month? (Reminder: March has 31 days).

The Sky's the Limit: We can't tell you how many mice the Chief Mouser likes to eat each day, but if you multiply that number by itself and add 6, you get 42. How many mystery mice does the Chief Mouser eat?

Answers:

Wee Ones: 1, 2, 3, 4!

Little Kids: 8 feet.
Bonus: Different for everyone...subtract your age in years from 18. If you're 18 or older, you can find out how much longer you've lived!

Big Kids: 21 meals per week.
Bonus: 93 mice.

The Sky's the Limit: 6 mice. If we added 6 to the number as the last step, we had 42 - 6 = 36 before that. The number that we multiply by itself (or "square") to get 36 is 6, meaning that 6 is the "square root."

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