13

There is a lot of silly talk about 13 being an ‘unlucky’ number.
When people talk like that,
they keep noticing anything bad that happens on that day
so their fears and worries get set
and they may begin to expect trouble
on the 13 day of the month,
or if staying in a house number 13.
Maybe it is because it comes after
the useful number 12.
A baker’s dozen is 13.
If some of a baker’s rolls came out
a bit smaller than others,
he could get into trouble,
so to be sure he’d given
a good amount for the price
he would often add another,
so give 13 when paid for 12.
There are 52 weeks in the year,
and as there are 4 seasons,
you could say that there are
13 weeks of spring, 13 of summer,
13 of autumn, and 13 weeks of winter
(4 lots of 13 add up to …).

12
A clock with 12 numbers on it is called an Analogue clock.
12 hours from midnight until lunchtime, and
then 12 hours til midnight again .
We used to have money as
12 pennies to one shilling.
Eggs and other food is often
sold in cartons or bags of 12
– we say ‘by the dozen’
or half a dozen which is 6..
Jesus taught 12 special disciples
and then sent out 12 with the message
to all the world
of his rising from death
to be our Saviour.

11
11: the number of players in football
or cricket teams.
Canada’s flag has a red maple leaf,
with 11 points on it
(maple leaves aren’t all exactly like that!)
Apollo 11 was the first manned spacecraft
to land on the moon
People sometimes say that it is the 11th hour for doing something –
they mean it is urgent, thinking of the 12 hours shown on clocks.
WW1 ended at 11 o’clock in the morning
on  the 11 day of the 11th month (November).
Rockets need to travel at just over 11 km per second
to escape the gravity of the earth

10
Two figures represent 10.
The crab that walks
sideways seems to have 10 legs
5 on each side, and so
belong to the Decapod group of animals
(deca is from the Greek language for 10)
but their front 2 ‘legs’ are really claws.
God gave us 10 big laws
to show us the meaning of love.
No,10 Downing Street in London
is where the Prime Minister has his home
above his offices

9
9 is the last of the ‘simple’ numbers!
We used to say that there were 9 planets
in our solar system,
but now, as he’s so small,
they don’t count Pluto
(say he’s just one of the little dwarf planets),
so that there are
only 8 in all
(take one off 9 leaves 8!)
We ring 9, then 9 again, and 9 once more
on a  phone if there is a
serious emergency
to fetch Police, Ambulance or Fire Engine
with urgency.
3 blue smarties, 3 red,
and 3 yellow - makes 9!

8
8 legs on a spider
– 4 on each side
(4 and 4 makes 8);
8 tentacles on an octopus
(like arms)
An octagon is a flat shape
with 8 straight sides
‘octo’ comes from the Latin and Greek language words  for 8.
October isn’t the 8th month of the year now,
but in the old Roman calendar
the year started in March,
and so it was.

7
7 days in every week –
the first day is Sunday,
then five school days,
followed by Saturday:
5 and 2 makes 7.
There are 7 colours in the rainbow:
red orange, yellow green blue indigo and violet;
7 white keys in the musical scale.:
C D E F G A B
or do, re, me fa, soh, lah, te.

6
6 sides (including top and bottom)
to cubes and bricks.
And every insect has 6
legs,
Collect 3 pegs and 3 pegs,
or 1 with 5,
or 4 with 2
to get 6 pegs in three different ways,
and the world was made in
6 creation days.

5
5 days for school –
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
and then Thursday, Friday;
5 fingers on each hand
(though one is called a thumb)
5 petals on a buttercup
3 sweets with another 2
makes 5 sweets altogether.

4
4 sides to a square,
4 wheels on a car,
4 legs on a chair:
2 books, and 2 more
makes 4.

3
3 leaflets on a clover leaf,
a tricycle has 3 wheels –
1, 2, 3
and every day there’s 3 main meals -
breakfast, lunch and dinner or tea.

2
2 hands to play
2 feet to take you on your way
2 eyes to watch
your feet don’t trip or slip or stray.

1
One mouth to guard,
one tongue to keep in check
as I talk;
one nose
that goes
in front
as I walk.