Today from Bedtime Math: Fun for Ferrets

Of all the funny, furry animals you can have as a pet, the ferret might be the funniest. These long, skinny cousins of the weasel have been pets for possibly as long as 2,500 years, even though they're one of the smellier pets you can have. Even though they sleep for up to 18 hours a day, they're very playful at sunrise and sunset, wriggling around and doing what is called the "weasel war dance" to show that they're happy. A friend of Bedtime Math who had two pet ferrets found that they love to hide inside socks: cut the toe off an old long tube sock, and they'll wriggle their way in until their head pops out the other end. Then they'll just lie there, or else roll across the room. A group of ferrets is called a "business," and in fact they've been put to work: years ago Boeing used ferrets to run wires through tight spots when building airplanes. The problem is the ferrets kept falling asleep on the job since they nap so much...they'd much rather lie around in a sock. 

Now here's today's math~ 

Wee ones: If you have 1 pet ferret and get 3 more ferrets to keep him company, how many ferrets do you have now?

Little kids: If you have 8 ferrets and 6 socks, how many ferrets don't get to snuggle in a sock? (Assume you can't squeeze 2 ferrets inside 1 sock.)  Bonus: Ferrets are about 15 inches long, plus a 5-inch tail. How long is the ferret in total?

Big kids: If your 4 20-inch ferrets lie nose to tail on the floor, how long is your ferret chain? Bonus: The word ferret comes from the Latin word furittus, which means "little thief," because ferrets like to steal small objects and hide them. If you have 48 Lego blocks and the ferret hid 1/3 of them last week and a quarter of what was left this week, how many pieces has your ferret stolen?

Answers:

Wee ones: 4 ferrets.

Little kids: 2 ferrets miss out.  Bonus: 20 inches total.

Big kids: 80 inches of ferret.  Bonus: 24 pieces -- the ferret stole 16 last week and another 8 this week.