Cats have cute whiskers, but the whiskers are more than just cute. When whiskers brush against anything, cats really feel it. That helps the cat figure out if it can squeeze through an opening without getting stuck. Maybe the real question is, why don’t us people have whiskers?
Wee ones: If a cat has 8 cute whiskers, what numbers would you say to count them?
Little kids: If a cat has 10 whiskers on each side of its nose, how many does it have? Bonus: What if it has 12 on each side — how many more whiskers does it have now?
Big kids: If a cat had 9 whiskers on each side of its nose, above each eye, and behind each front paw, how many whiskers would that be in total? Bonus: If 1 cat has 80 whiskers in total, another has 36 in total, and a 3rd cat’s number is halfway between those, how many whiskers does the 3rd cat have?
Answers:
Wee ones: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Little kids: 20 whiskers. Bonus: 4 more whiskers since you added 2 on each side.
Big kids: 54 whiskers (6 sets of 9). Bonus: 58 whiskers. The difference between the first 2 cats is 80-36 = 44, so the 3rd cat’s number will be 22 less than one cat and 22 more than the other cat.
