How big can a crab get, and what does Auld Lang Syne mean? Try our kids’ quiz

Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian

1. The creature pictured above is a crab. Caleb, 7, asks: how big can a crab get?

   1. As tall as an elephant

   2. As long as a bus

   3. As wide as a jaguar

   4. As big as a cat

2. Eleanor, 11, asks: what does Auld Lang Syne mean (the song that lots of people sing on New Year’s Eve)?

   1. It means Song for Old Friends

   2. It means Old Sign Language

   3. It means Old Times’ Sake

   4. It means New Year’s Eve

3. Nora, 7, asks: how many planets are there in our solar system?

   1. 9

   2. 8

   3. 7

   4. 11

4. Arella, 8, asks: what is on the biggest painting in the world?

   1. An enormous field of sunflowers

   2. A giant birthday cake

   3. Pictures by children all over the world

   4. A Buddha with gold on his heart

5. Renu, 5, asks: how many muscles in your face do you use when you make a smile compared with when you make a frown?

   1. It takes the same amount for both

   2. It takes 57 muscles to smile and 75 muscles to frown

   3. It take 43 muscles to smile and 17 muscles to frown

   4. It takes 12 muscles to smile and 11 muscles to frown

Solutions

1:A - The biggest crabs on land are coconut crabs. They can grow up to 1 metre wide, claw to claw. The biggest in the sea are Japanese spider crabs, at 3.7 metres across – about as tall as an elephant!, 2:C - Auld Lang Syne means old times’ sake. The words come from a very old poem, made famous by Scottish poet Robert Burns, who heard an old man singing the song and wrote it down in 1788. It became traditional on New Year’s Eve in Scotland and Scots who moved took it with them – the tune was once the Maldives national anthem., 3:B - Our solar system has eight planets and five dwarf planets – Pluto was a planet but changed to a dwarf one., 4:C - The biggest painting on canvas in the world is The Journey of Humanity, which is nearly 1,596 square metres. British artist Sacha Jafri made it using artwork by children from 140 countries, as well as 500 gallons of paint and a thousand brushes., 5:D - Plastic surgeon David H Song says you use 12 muscles to smile – properly, crinkling your eyes – and 11 to frown. But it’s probably easier to smile, especially if you’re naturally smiley, as your muscles are used to doing it.

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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