Why do people like cuddly toys, and do seagulls wee? Try our kids’ quiz

1. Phoenix, 10, asks: why do people like cuddly toys?

   1. Because they look funny and make us laugh

   2. They are comforting, calming and soft, so good for a hug

   3. Because they make a good pillow

   4. They don’t, but we get given them so have to put them somewhere

2. Billy, 6, asks: why is it so difficult to find a four-leaf clover?

   1. It’s not – the idea that it is hard is a myth

   2. Because cows love to eat them, so they’re usually gobbled up first

   3. Because they’re very rare – only one in 10,000 has four leaves

   4. The four-leaf ones get picked as soon as they grow, so you have to be speedy to find one

3. William, 9, and Sam, 6, ask: how many volts of electricity does a lemon produce?

   1. None

   2. 7/10 of a volt

   3. 2 volts

   4. 10 volts

4. Dante, 8, asks: do seagulls wee?

   1. No

   2. Yes

   3. They do but it’s white

   4. Only if they’ve drunk a lot of water

5. Dominik, 7, asks: why are Smurfs blue?

   1. Because the lady who coloured them in tried lots of colours and found that blue worked best

   2. So they match the sky

   3. They eat lots of blueberries

   4. Because blue is a peaceful kind of colour and Smurfs are peaceful beings

Solutions

1:B - Cuddly toys can be comforting because they’re always there and are soft, so good for a hug, especially if you’re feeling worried., 2:C - Only one in every 10,000 clover plants will have four leaves, which is why it’s hard to find one. The name for white clover, the type we’re talking about, is trifolium, a Latin word that means three leaves. Clovers with four have a mutation in their make-up. Sometimes you can find more: the record is 56, found in Japan in 2009., 3:B - A single lemon produces about 7/10 of a volt of electricity. Connect two lemons and you can make about 1.5 volts – enough to power a cheap digital watch., 4:A - Unlike mammals, birds don’t wee. But seagulls do a lot of white poop. One study found birds are most likely to do it on red cars, followed by blue and black; it really depends on where you park., 5:A - Janine Culliford, who coloured in the Smurfs, said the blue “was a process of elimination. Green would have mixed them up under the foliage; yellow would make them look ill; pink, embarrassed; and if they were red, readers would think they were angry.”

Scores

1. 5 and above.

2. 4 and above.

3. 3 and above.

4. 2 and above.

5. 0 and above.

6. 1 and above.

Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a weekly podcast answering children’s questions, out now as a book.

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