People usually have one baby at a time. But dogs can have lots of puppies at once in a “litter”, or group of siblings. Imagine having 15 brothers and sisters who share your birthday! A German Shepherd mom in England had a litter of 16 puppies. These puppies will all grow up to be big, but first they have to figure out how to split up their birthday cake.
Wee ones: A puppy has 4 paws, or feet. Does it have more feet than you?
Little kids: Puppies grow fast and eat a lot of food. If a puppy eats 2 cups of kibble each day, how many days does it take that puppy to eat 10 cups of kibble? Count up by 2s if it helps! Bonus: If the 16 puppies try an obstacle course but only 2 make it to the end, how many puppies don’t do the whole course?
Big kids: How many paws does this litter of 16 puppies have? Bonus: Puppies love playing in the mud! If you need 3 baby wipes to clean each one of those 16 puppies’ paws, how many baby wipes do you need to clean them all for the whole crew?
Answers:
Wee ones: Yes! 4 is more than 2.
Little kids: 5 days. Bonus: 14 puppies.
Big kids: 64 paws. You can use partial products: 4 x 16 is the same as 4 x 10 + 4 x 6. That’s 40 + 24, which is 64. Bonus:192 wipes.
