Math · Stage 4
Solve chicken-and-rabbit style problems with larger numbers
The same olympiad trick — pretend every animal is a chicken, find the extra legs, then swap — now scaled up to flocks of twenty, thirty and more.
✦ Math📘 Stage 4 · S4⏱ ~10 min🧒 Ages 8–9★ Free to start
I can solve chicken-and-rabbit style problems with larger numbers.
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Kavi at the Big Farm 🐔🐰
Kavi flies over a huge paddock: 20 heads bobbing and 56 legs scurrying — chickens 🐔 and rabbits 🐰 everywhere! "Too many to count one by one," hoots Kavi. "But the olympiad trick still works, even with big numbers: pretend they are ALL chickens, then fix the leftover legs!"
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What your child will learn
1Legs never changeBig flock or small, the leg counts are the same. Tap each card to remember.
2Pretend all 20 are chickensThere are 20 heads. Tap to see what happens if every single one is a chicken.
3Real legs − pretend legsFind the leftover legs by subtracting. Real 56 take away pretend 40. Tap Step →.
4Swap chickens into rabbitsEach swap turns a 2-leg chicken into a 4-leg rabbit, adding 2 legs. Tap to see.
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A peek inside
A paddock has 20 heads and 56 legs 🐔🐰. How many rabbits and chickens?
all chickens → 20 × 2 = 40 · extra 56 − 40 = 16 · rabbits 16 ÷ 2 = 8 · chickens 20 − 8 = 12
Try this at home: 18 heads, 50 legs. All chickens: 18 × 2 = 36. Extra: 50 − 36 = 14. Rabbits: 14 ÷ 2 = __, chickens: 18 − __ = __
Ready to play and learn?
Start the free interactive lesson, or print the handout for screen-free play.
Part of Math · Stage 4 · S4 on KAVI Academy — a secular, whole-child learning platform for ages 5–12.