Mathsticks 2010 Christmas Games, Activities and Resources

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INDEX of Christmas Activities and Resources Contents

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Puzzles and Problem Solving Hexagon Puzzle - Christmas Images

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Cut-out and refit the seven puzzles pieces so that each face matches. Focus on problem solving.

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Hexagon Puzzle - Blank A template to create your own puzzles

Answer

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Christmas Sudoku

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Five gentle Sudoku puzzles using Christmas images instead of numbers. Four 4x4 grids, Four 6x6 grids and two 9x9 grids

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Sudoku - Blanks Three templates to create your own Sudoku puzzles

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Seven Christmas Crackers! Seven short problems to solve.

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The Pine Forest A route finding activity, focussed on addition and problem solving

Tree Triangle

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Focus on problem solving and addition practise 1. Complete Tree Triangle (A4) 2. Blank Tree Triangle (A4) 3. Solutions

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X-number Puzzles These crosswords feature numbers as the answers rather than words. There are 5 of them with the following themes: 1. Halving and Doubling 2. Decimals 3. Addition and Subtraction 4. Multiplication 5. A backwards puzzle - the X-number answers are filled , leaving the children to create their own clues. Answers to the first four puzzles 2

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X-number Puzzle - Blank

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A template for you (or the children) to create your own puzzles

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Christmas Costs Cut-out and refit the seven puzzles pieces so that each face matches. Focus on problem solving.

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60 of the B L-N Q A selection of the best Letter-Number puzzles for you to use in class or as homework

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Christmas Doors 3 Task sheets featuring problem solving using addition of consecutive numbers

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Codes at Christmas Three pages of codes, each more challenging than the rest. This could be used as a mini project, culminating with the children inventing their own codes, and/or researching about the use of codes in history.

Board Games Christmas Tree Race

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Two players, two counters and three dice. Players have take it in turns to use the dice to crate number sentences which will give them a number on the Christmas tree. On each turn, if they can go, they can move steadily up the tree. The winner is the first to the top of the tree. The game can be adapted in a number of ways:  Reduce the operations available; perhaps only addition and subtraction is allowed, for example;  Use more/less dice;  Use dice featuring different numbers, for example: 0,1,2,3,4,5;  Agree that the dice can be thrown multiple times before the player has to use the numbers shown  Roll a double and move your opponent back down the tree one layer

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Ice-Rink Game Using one dice to move your playing piece forwards and backwards around the edge of the rink, the aim is to make exactly 10 to collect a token.

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The winner is the first to collect 5 tokens. crosswords feature numbers as the answers rather than words.

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Star-Count A game focussing on counting, and addition There are three variations: 1. Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 - simple addition 2. Numbers 1, 1.5, 2, 2.25, 2.5, 3, 3.25 - decimal addition 3. Blank template

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The Great Elf Race A ’Ludo’ inspired game with penalty squares..

Hogie’s Game

44

A straightforward variation on ’Snakes and Ladders’, this time with 32 fun question cards. Vary the game by creating different question cards. Hogie’s Game Cards

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Loop Cards Loop Cards provide an excellent way to encourage and motivate all children to take part in sessions. The set of 32 cards here is intended as a fun interlude, so there are no hard mathematical concepts involved. However, the entertaining factbased questions should help the children to learn the process of the Loop card game. To play. Print out the following three pages, cut each page into 8 separate cards, shuffle these and hand out to the children. For the game to work well you need to use all of the cards. If you have less than 32 children some will need two cards; if you have more than 32 children, then some will need to share a card. Pick a child to start the game. Ask them to read out the question on the lower part of their card, for example:

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“Who has the number of Pipers Piping? “ One person in the room should have the answer printed on their card, ask them all to check, and to read it out: “I have... 11” They then follow this by reading the question on their card - this is answered in turn by someone else and the chain of questions-andanswers ‘loop’ around until it returns to the person who started the game! Collect the cards, shuffle them and repeat the another day. Once the children are used to the activity it’s fun to play it at high speed!

Looking Ahead - Calendar Work Calendar Thoughts

54

Several starting points for children to think about as they look at the calendar; this could become the focus of a theme for early January.

Dode-Calendar

55

A completely re-drawn template for the 2011 calendar. Let children cut out, decorate and construct the dodecahedron calendar. This could be a useful ’take-home’ item.

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Hexagon Puzzle (answer)

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Christmas Sudoku 1 To complete each Sudoku square you need to draw in the missing images so that every column, row and mini-grid contains each one. No image should appear twice in any column, row and mini-grid. For example, look at the first puzzle, using the rules above, what image must replace the question mark in the first square of the top row?

?

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Christmas Sudoku 2 To complete each Sudoku square you need to draw in the missing images so that every column, row and mini-grid contains each one. No image should appear twice in any column, row and mini-grid.

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Christmas Sudoku 3 To complete each Sudoku square you need to draw in the missing images so that every column, row and mini-grid contains each one. No image should appear twice in any column, row and mini-grid.

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Christmas Sudoku 4



                    

    O       O   O     O    12

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  O



     

Christmas Sudoku Templates

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Christmas Sudoku Templates

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Seven Christmas Crackers! The Seven Dwarfs were unhappy. There was not a single joke in any of the crackers at the dinner table, they just had a series of maths puzzles.

Santa likes to put his socks and boots on in a different order every day. On Monday he puts his left sock on followed by his left boot, then his right sock followed by right boot... On which day will he repeat this same pattern?

You will need to help them out. How many can you solve?

Replace each letter with a number, can you make the addition work?

O N E

DWELADVENTSEVE

O N E + T WO

Make one up for your friend.

Make one up for your friend.

This number sentence is correct, it’s just missing a few addition signs. Can you add ’+’ signs to make it work?

Four consecutive pages are missing from Eric’s Christmas book. The sum of the missing pages is 98. What are the missing four pages.

123456789 = 100

Make a similar problem up for a friend.

Can you find three different ways of doing it?

Can you divide a clock face into 3 parts so that the sum of the numbers in each part is the same?

I am a two digit number. The sum of my digits is 11. If my digits were reversed I would be 45 more than I am now... Who am I?

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Un-muddle the letters to make a sum, work out the sum and then write in the answer.

Can you do it in two different ways

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The Pine Forest It’s Christmas Eve and Santa has to reach his sleight. Unfortunately, he is at the very bottom of the forest and his sleigh is parked at the opposite corner. Santa needs to make a path through the forest, he can move horizontally, vertically or diagonally from square to square. Each time he moves he has to cut down all the trees in the square. Work with a friend to design a route for Santa to take. Which route will cut down the smallest number of trees?

Can you devise your own game board based on this?

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Answers Pine Forest

Shortest route = 29 trees 3+4+2+4+6+6+4

Triangle Trees Route = 100 12+19+6+11+9+6+10 +5+3+4+8+2+5

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Lowest Route = xxx 10+8+5+11+9+4+6+8+7+9 +3+4+8+2+5

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Highest Route = 180 13+24+9+21+9+13+25+9+16 +4+3+9+18+2+5

Cracker X-number 1 Using the clues below, can you complete this X-number? Most of the clues are based on either halving or doubling numbers.

Across 3 Half of 166 5 9 more than double 350 8 Two plus fifty plus three-hundred 10 1 more than half of 100 11 Double 3257 13 12236 re-arranged 14 Double, double 5 Across 16 A quarter of 144 17 Ten times 2 Down 18 Half of 8 Across 19 Double, double 3 20 Half of 148 21 Double 24145 22 1 more than double 23

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Down 1 Double 19 2 1 more than double 10 4 3346 re-arranged 5 Double 3711 6 0349 re-arranged 7 200 more than 5 Down 8 Half of 6220 9 10 times 113 doubled 10 2456 re-arranged 12 Double 28 15 Half of half of 124 20 Double 37 23 4 less than double 1 Down

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Cracker X-number 2 Using the clues below, can you complete this X-number? The clues here include calculations involving decimal numbers, enter the numbers in the correct cells of the X-number, using the decimal points as a guide. Clue 10 Across has already been completed.

Across 5.5 - 3.2 3

Down 1 8.5 - 3.3

5

44.7 ÷ 3

2

22.5 ÷ 5

8

4

10

9.95 + 16.55 28 ÷ 8 = 3.5 

5

14.25 + 18.42 170.385 ÷ 11.1

11

34.56 - 9.91

6

23.4 - 14.125

13

5 x 42.83

7

72 x 9.025

14

12.99 + 9.38

8

66.18 + 187.42

16

100 x 0.068 4.56 - 0.79

9

19

1.6 x 2.0875 12.75 - 6.85

12 96 x 0.05 15 9.14 - 5.64

20

97 x 0.1

20 40 x 0.235

21

18.444 + 35.432 11.175 - 4.375

23 3.14 + 5.06

17 18

22 21

20 x 2.6205 10 91.3 - 53.34

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Cracker X-number 3 Using the clues below, can you complete this X-number? The clues here focus on calculations involving addition and subtraction; enter the answers in the correct cells of the X-number.

Across

Down

3

99 - 28

1

89 - 62

5

526 - (199 + 71)

2

(101 - 59) + 16

8

765 - 334

4

1234 + 111

10

(59 - 30) - 1

5

1111 + 1012

11

4275 - 1124

6

2179 + 3486 + 1093

13

54321 + 20106 + 1578

7

194 + 1900

14

3857 - 232

8

2010 + 3480

16

100 - 52

9

999 + 355

17

552 - 297

10 1258 + 1316

18

929 - (60 - 56)

12 150 - 132

19

181 - 104

15 65 - 38

20

255 - 170

20 41 + 41

21

68686 + 17744

23 100 - (75 - 50)

22

99 - 52

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Cracker X-number 4 Using the clues below, can you complete this X-number? The clues here include calculations involving multiplication; enter the answers in the correct cells of the X-number.

Across 3 5 8 10 11 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

(3 + 4) x 6 9x2x9 11 x 55 7x4 3 x 11 x (35 + 25) (500 x 25) + 9 x 2 x 7 9x5x4x6 8x7 6 x 7 x 20 (7 x 9 x 2) + 146 72 52 (12 x 2000) + 82 11 x 5

Down 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 15 20 23

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9x6 4 x 12 (7 x 3 x 100)+(11 x 5) 6 x 9 x 10 x 2 (40 x 50) + 102 82 x 52 (600 x 11) + 4 x 6 4000 + (10 x 7 x 16) (72 x 20) + 1115 2x6x8 7 x 12 3x7 82 - 10

Cracker X-number 5 This X-number has already been completed! However, all of the clues are missing. Can you provide some mathematical clues for each of the answers?

Across

Down

3

1

5

2

8

4

10

5

11

6

13

7

14

8

16

9

17

10

18

12

19

15

20

20

21

23

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4. Multiplication & Division

3. Add & Subtract 2. Decimals

1. Halving & Doubling

Cracker X-number (Answers)

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Cracker X-number Using the clues below, can you complete this X-number?

Across

Down

3

1

5

2

8

4

10

5

11

6

13

7

14

8

16

9

17

10

18

12

19

15

20

20

21

23

22 26

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Christmas Costs!

   

What about the seven dwarfs (Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey, Doc, Happy, Bashful, Grumpy) how much would each cost? Is Christmas more or less expensive than Xmas? Is December more or less expensive than January? Is Merry Christmas more or less expensive than Happy Christmas?

Make up more of your own questions.

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60 of the B L-N Q (60 of the Best Letter-Number Questions) Each of the following ‘questions’ contains a number and the initials of the answer. For example, 13 in a BD = 13 Loaves in a Baker’s Dozen. The list here represents 60 of the best ones collected over a number of years. While many of them are based on mathematical facts, the others are just ‘fun’. I don’t suggest using all 60 at once! Instead, write out a 5-10 of problems and challenge the class to solve them in 5 minutes. I used to use this as a ‘quiet-registration’ activity each morning in the run up to Christmas. A selection of the questions could also be used as a ‘take-home’ activity for children to share with their parents.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 28

1 M and H D 1 P in a P T 1SDNMaS 1 S S for M 1 W on a U 2 P in a P 2 S of a L T 2 S to an A 2 TD & a P in a P T 2 W in a F 2 W on a B 2 H are B T 1 3 W on a T 3 WM F the S 3BM 4 C in the UK 5 T on a F 5 S on a P 5 V in the A 6 B to an O in C 7 D of the W 7 S on a 50 P P 7 W of the W 7 C of the R

1 Man and His Dog 1 Partridge in a Pear Tree 1 Swallow Does Not Make a Summer 1 Small Step for Man 1 Wheel on a Unicycle 2 Peas in a Pod 2 Shakes of a Lamb’s Tail 2 Sides to an Argument 2 Turtle Doves & a Partridge in a Pear Tree 2 Weeks in a Fortnight 2 Wheels on a Bicycle 2 heads are better than 1 3 Wheels on a Tricycle 3 Wise Men Followed the Star 3 Blind Mice 4 Countries in the United Kingdom 5 Toes on a Foot 5 Sides on a Pentagon 5 Vowels in the Alphabet 6 Balls to an Over in Cricket 7 Days of the Week 7 Sides on a 50 Pence Piece 7 Wonders of the World 7 Colours of the Rainbow mathsticks.com

60 of the B L-N Q (continued)

25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60.

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8 T on a O 8MaM 8 L on a S 9 L of a C 10 P for a Q in S 10 E in a D 11 P in a F T 12 M in a Y 12 S of the Z 13 S in the USF 13 = UFS 13 L in a B D P in a R T 15 M on a D M C 15 R B in S 16 O in a P 18 H on a G C 21 C in the A 23 P of C in the H B 24 H in a D 24 C in P G 26 L of the A 27 B in the N T 29 D in F in a L Y 30 D has S, A, J and N 32 D F = 0 DC 39 B of the O T 52 C in a P 52 W in a Y 60 M in a H 64 S on a C B 66 B of the B 90 D in a R A 100 Y in a C 365 D in a Y 1000 Y in a M

8 Tentacles on an octopus 8 Maids a Milking 8 Legs on a Spider 9 Lives of a Cat 10 Points for a ‘Q’ in Scrabble 10 Events in a Decathlon 11 Players in a Football Team 12 Months in a Year 12 Signs of the Zodiac 13 Stripes in the United States Flag 13 = Unlucky For Some 13 Loaves in a Baker’s Dozen 15 Players in a Rugby Team 15 Men on a Dead Man’s Chest 15 Red Balls in Snooker 16 Ounces in a Pound 18 holes on a golf course 21 Consonants in the Alphabet 23 Pairs of Chromosomes in the Human Body 24 Hours in a Day 24 Carets in Pure Gold 26 Letters of the Alphabet 27 Books of the New Testament 29 Days in February in a Leap Year 30 Days has September, April, June and November 32 Degrees Fahrenheit = 0 Degrees Celsius 39 Books of the Old Testament 52 Cards in a Pack 52 Weeks in a Year 60 Minutes in a Hour 64 Squares on a Chess Board 66 Books of the Bible 90 Degrees in a right angle 100 Years in a Century 365 Days in a Year 1000 Years in a Millennium

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Codes at Christmas a b c d e f g h i 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

j

k

l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Using the code grid above can you work out the following…

“Who hides in the bakery at Christmas?” 1

13, 9, 14, 3, 5

“Where does Santa's little helpers go to relax?”

19, 16, 25 !

20, 8, 5

5, 12, 6

6, 1, 18, 13 !

“What do you call an old snowman?”

“What do sheep say to Santa?”

23, 1, 20, 5, 18 !

19, 5, 1, 19, 15, 14, 19 2, 12, 5, 1, 20, 9, 14, 7, 19 !

a b c d e f g h i

j

k

B

K

L M N O P Q R

C

D

E

F

G H

I

J

l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z S

T

U V W X

Y

Z

A

Using the code grid above can you work out the following…

“What is the best xmas present in the world?”

33

“Why don't reindeer like penguins?”

B ESVN, ZPV DBOOPU CFBU JU !

CFDBVTF UIFZ DBOOPU UBLF UIF XSBQQFST PGG !

“What’s the best thing to put into a Christmas cake?”

“What do snowmen eat for breakfast?”

ZPVS UFFUI !

TOPXGMBLFT !

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Jim’s Christmas Code Jim made a list Christmas things he wanted to buy for his family (he even included his dog ‘Zoltan’. To keep the list secret, and to annoy his sister, Val, he wrote it in code. Each letter was replaced by a different letter. Unfortunately, he has now forgotten most of the code! He’s put in the three letters he remembers. Can you help him find out what he originally wrote, and complete the code grid? Code Grid

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

n o p G

q

r

s

t u Z

i O

j

k

l

m

v w x

y

z

Jim’s Christmas List YGK RQR: Q EQHZQOF EQCTDQF Z-LIOKZ

YGK DXD: Q WTZZN WGGH HGSAQ-RGZ JXOSZ

YGK DN LOLZTK CQS: Q PTVTSSTKN KTHQOK AOZ

YGK MGSZQF: Q DTUQ WGB GY WOLEXOZL

Do you notice anything about Jim’s code? 34

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Val’s Phone Code Val likes to listen to music on her mobile phone. At the moment she is listening to all her Christmas songs. She decides to send the name of each track to her brother, Jim. But (because he’s just annoyed her) she sends him the numbers linked to each letter on her phone pad instead of the actual title. For example, for “CAT” she would send 228 , and “STAR” would be 7827. Can you help Jim decode these four popular Christmas songs?

7 2 6 8 2

2 2 2 9

5 4 6 4 5 3

3 6

2 3 5 5

8 4 3 9

5 6 6 9

7 6 2 5

4 8 7

2 4 7 4 7 8 6 2 7

3 7 6 7 8 9

35

8 4 3

7 6 6 9 6 2 6

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Codes at Christmas (Answers)

CODES AT CHRISTMAS

JIM’S CHRISTMAS CODE

“Who hides in the bakery at Christmas?” A mince spy!

For Dad: a Captain Caveman T-shirt For Mum: a Betty Boop polka-dot quilt For my sister Val: a jewellery repair kit For Zoltan: a mega box of biscuits

“Why don't reindeer like penguins?” Because they can not take the wrappers off ! “What is the best xmas present in the world?” A broken drum You cant beat it! “Where does Santa's little helpers go to relax?” The elf farm! “What do sheep say to Santa?” Seasons Bleatings!

VAL’S PHONE CODES Santa Baby Jingle Bell Rock Do They Know It's Christmas Frosty The Snowman

“What’s the best thing to put into a Christmas cake?” Your teeth! “What do you call an old snowman?” Water “What do snowmen eat for breakfast?” Snowflakes!

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Star-Count

A game for two players. You need this game board and one counter. Start with the counter on the centre ‘3’. Then take turns to move the counter along an arm of the star, or round the large circle to another number, you can move forwards and backwards, in and out as often as you like. When you move the counter you must keep a running total, say this aloud as you move. For example if you move 3 to 4 to 2 to 3, you will say 3, 7, 9, 12... The first player keeps moving the counter until he makes a mistake or hesitates... Then the turn passes to his partner. 39

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Star-Count

A game for two players. You need this game board and one counter. Start with the counter on the centre ‘3’. Then take turns to move the counter along an arm of the star, or round the large circle to another number, you can move forwards and backwards, in and out as often as you like. When you move the counter you must keep a running total, say this aloud as you move. For example if you move 3 to 2.25 to 1 to 2.5, you will say 3, 5.25, 6.25, 8.75... The first player keeps moving the counter until he makes a mistake or hesitates... Then the turn passes to his partner. 40

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Star-Count

A game for two players. You need this game board and one counter. Start with the counter on the centre number. Then take turns to move the counter along an arm of the star, or round the large circle to another number, you can move forwards and backwards, in and out as often as you like. When you move the counter you must keep a running total, say this aloud as you move. The first player keeps moving the counter until he makes a mistake or hesitates... Then the turn passes to his partner. 41

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The Great Elf Race You need: A copy of the playing board (next page) 3 counters for each player A 1-6 dice The aim of the game is to get all three of your ‘elves safely to the FINISH position on the board so they can start helping Father Christmas.

Each player places his own 3 counters near the ‘START’. They take turns to throw the dice and move 1 counter forward the number of spaces shown by the dice. If a player ‘s move make him land on another player’s piece then that action sends the original piece back to the start of the game! The winner is the first player to get all 3 counters to the finish. You can develop the use of mathematics, or the application of strategic thinking by making some of the following changes... Possible variations:  Use two dice and move the difference between the spots  For a quicker game, use two dice and use the product of the dice  Use a dice with limited numbers, say 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3  Work with three players  Adapt the rules so that a player can only play is second and subsequent ‘Elf’ counters after the first one has reached the Finish line  At each turn a player may choose to move their own piece, or another players’ - particularly of value if that move will send their opponent’s piece backwards!

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Shake a dice to move - on each shake your partner will take a question card for you and read it out. If you answer the question correctly you may complete your move. If you land on a tree you can jump forward to the next tree. If you land on the Holly berries you must jump back to the nearest square with Holly berries (or the START square)

The idea of the game is to follow the track to get to the FINISH square.

Shuffle the question cards and place them here.

Instructions:

Half the date of Christmas eve...

Double the date of Boxing day...

12

52

Vowels are worth 10p, consonants are worth 2p. How much is ‘Santa’?

The number of letters in ‘Father Christmas’?

26

15

The Giant is 8 times the size of Jack. If Jack is 2.1 metres tall, how tall is the Giant?

Snow White’s dwarfs, squared! 49

16.8 metres

How many mince pies in a box of four dozen?

The number of vowels in ‘Merry Christmas’

48

45

3

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The date of the day after New Year’s Eve.

The legs on 7 reindeer... 28

1

The number of French Hens in “The 12 days of Christmas” song?

The number of wheels on Santa’s sled... 2

0

Half the number of days in eight weeks...

Jack’s beans...

28

5

The number of doors on an Advent calendar...

Five days after New Years Day...

24 or 25

46

6th January

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(Snow White’s dwarfs times Santa’s gloves) plus Cinderella’s sisters...

56 days is how many weeks?

16

8

Double the number of days in two and a half weeks...

The faces of a triangular prism times the legs on three reindeer? 36

60

This year Christmas day is on a Saturday, what day will it fall on next year?

Half the number of days in a leap year...

Sunday

183

How many mince pies in a box of six dozen?

The number of days in six weeks...

72

47

42

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Half the minutes in three hours...

Aladdin’s wishes... 3

90

Vinnie’s Christmas Tree is 240 cm. Sally’s is 20% taller, how tall is Sally’s tree?

There were a dozen mince pies in the tin. Granny ate 25%, how many are left? 8

288 cm

(Aladdin's wishes times a snowman’s feet) plus the faces of a cube...

The original number of Santa’s reindeer... 8

6 (snowmen have 0 feet)

28

There were 20 Christmas crackers in the box. 40% are left, how many have been used? 12

The number of days in four weeks...

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Christmas Loop Cards

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I have... December 26th

Who has the object the wise men followed?

I have... 12

Who has the number of Aladdin’s wishes ?

I have... Bethlehem

Who has the number of Dwarves legs?

I have... 5

Who has the other name for the wise men?

50

I have... Star

Who has half the date of Christmas eve?

I have... 3

Who has the town where Jesus was born?

I have... 14 Who has the number of gold rings in “The Twelve Days of Christmas”?

I have... Magi Who has the number of Dwarves times the number of Jack’s beans?

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I have... 35

I have... Charles Dickens Who has the month before the month before December?

Who has the author of “A Christmas Carol”?

I have... October

I have... 36

Who has Blind Mice times the eyes of 6 reindeer?

I have... Green

Who has the colour of the Grinch?

I have... 11

Who has the number of reindeer including Rudolph?

Who has the number of Pipers Piping?

I have... 9

Who has Scrooge’s first name?

51

I have... Ebenezer Who has the season including the four Sundays preceding Christmas?

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I have... Advent

I have... 16

Who has the first 2-digit square number?

I have... 50

Who has half the number of sides on an Octagon?

I have... 62

Who the number for the Roman numeral ‘L’?

I have... 4

Who was the total number of days in December and January?

I have... 8

Who has the number of notes in an Octave?

I have... 2

Who has the number of vowels in Christmas?

I have... Poinsettia

Who has the number of squares on a Chess board?

Who has the plant known as the Christmas flower?

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I have... 64

I have... 81

Who has the last 2-digit square number?

I am Father Christmas!

Who is Father Christmas?

I have... 22

Who has the double the number of the Roman numeral “X”?

Who has the number of players in two football teams?

I have... 20

Who has the name for December 31st?

I have... 7

I have... New Year’s Eve

Who has the number of consonants in Christmas?

I have... 28

Who has the sum of all of the numbers on a dice?

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Who has Boxing Day?

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Calendar Thoughts! We will soon be saying hello to the year 2011. Here are a few things to think about:

The 11th January 2011 will be a palindromic date; when written in it’s shortest form it will read the same forwards as backwards: 11-1-11. More than this, the date has rotational symmetry. There are only 2 other dates in 2011 when this will happen. What are they?

11-1-11

11-1-11

In a similar way, what is special about 9th October 2011 and 13th December 2011? What other ‘special’ dates can you find?

You could say 2011 is a lucky year because it only has one Friday 13th (in May). How many Friday 13th’s were there in 2010? How many will there be in 2012? What about the following year... What patterns do you notice? Is there a way to tell from the first day of a month if that month will contain a Friday 13th?

In 2011, Christmas day falls on the same day as May 1st. Is this the case every year? What other patterns do you notice (look at January and October, March and November, September and December)?

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