Math · Stage 2
Chickens & rabbits: solve by assumption
Count the heads, count the legs — then pretend they're all chickens and let the extra legs reveal the rabbits.
✦ Math📘 Stage 2 · S2⏱ ~10 min🧒 Ages 6–7★ Free to start
I can solve chicken-and-rabbit (heads and legs) problems by assumption.
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Kavi's Noisy Farmyard 🐔🐰
Kavi counts 6 heads bobbing in the pen and 16 legs pattering about — but who is a chicken and who is a rabbit? "I'll pretend they're ALL chickens," says Kavi. "Then every head has just 2 legs… but that leaves some legs over! Each leftover pair of legs must belong to a rabbit." With one clever assumption, Kavi solves it without any guessing.
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What your child will learn
1A rabbit has 2 extra legsEvery animal has 1 head. But a chicken walks on 2 legs and a rabbit walks on 4 legs. Tap each card and find the difference.
2Pretend they're all chickensKavi has 6 heads and 16 legs. Assume every animal is a chicken: 6 heads × 2 legs = 12 legs. But there are really 16 legs! The bond shows the 16 real legs split into the 12 we assumed and the ones left over.
3Share the extra legs into rabbitsThere are 4 extra legs, and each rabbit owns 2 of them. Hop along the line in twos — each hop of 2 is one whole rabbit found.
4Halve the extra legs in a flashOnce you know the extra legs, the rabbits are just half of them — a number bond you already know. Extra 4 → 2 rabbits. Extra 6 → 3 rabbits. Extra 8 → 4 rabbits.
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A peek inside
Kavi counts 6 heads and 16 legs 🐔🐰. How many rabbits and how many chickens?
assume all chickens: 6 × 2 = 12 legs · extra = 16 − 12 = 4 · rabbits = 4 ÷ 2 = 2 · chickens = 6 − 2 = 4 · check: 2×4 + 4×2 = 16 ✓
Try this at home: 4 heads and 12 legs. How many rabbits and chickens? (assume all chickens first)
Part of Math · Stage 2 · S2 on KAVI Academy — a secular, whole-child learning platform for ages 5–12.