The Sixfold Squirrel

Sorrel the squirrel was filling six baskets for the winter store, each with the same number of acorns. "Six baskets is a lot to keep counting," she fretted. Her friend Felix grinned. "Six is just three, then doubled. Count three baskets, then double what you got." Three baskets of 4 acorns is 12 — and double 12 is 24. Six baskets sorted, in two friendly steps!

Try Sorrel's two-step way to find six times 5: first multiply by 3, then double your answer. Where did you land? Do it again for six times 3, saying each step out loud — and tell whoever's with you why "times three, then double" gives you six times as much.

Now invent your own six-times story. Pick something to gather in sixes — a squirrel's acorns, a baker's buns — and tell how multiplying by three and then doubling carries you there.