How Many Centimeters In an Inch?

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How many centimeters are in an inch? Or is the question how many inches are in a centimeter? How many inches are in a hundred centimeters? How many inches in a foot? It’s all a little confusing, right?

Since the United States uses the Imperial System of measurement instead of the Metric System, we are often asking these kinds of questions. It can be difficult for kids when they are learning measurements. So today I have a fun measurement activity to help kids understand the difference between inches and centimeters. Grab your rulers and let’s get to work!

I made a set of printable inches and centimeters task cards for kids to practice measuring items in moth the Imperial system and the Metric system.

But first a little more about the types of measurements and how they compare. This will help you as you teach your kids the difference between inches and centimeters!

What’s the Difference between the Imperial System and the Metric System?

The Imperial System (American), uses inches, feet, yards and miles to measure distance.

1 foot = 12 inches
3 feet= 1 yard
1,750 yards= 1 mile
1 mile= 5280 feet

The Metric System uses millimeters, centimeters, meters and kilometers.

10 millimeters= 1 centimeter
100 centimeters= 1 meter
1,000 meters = 1 kilometer

Simple, right? Well, unless you need to convert from one system to the other. Then it gets a little confusing!

Converting from Centimeters to Inches

1 inch = 2.54 centimeters
1 meter = 3.28 feet
1 meter = 1.09 yards
1 kilometer = .62 miles
1 kilometer = 3280.84 feet

So how many centimeters are in an inch? 2.54 Now, you see that these conversions are not the easiest! Probably you’d need a calculator to get accurate answers.

Since we are working with younger kids here, instead we will use our rulers and some approximates to compare inches and centimeters.

How Many Centimeters In an Inch?

I made these fun little cards to help kids practice their measuring skills. These will help kids to compare how many centimeters are in an inch. It will also help them learn how to use both sides of the ruler.

Each card has a picture to measure and the place to fill in both inches and centimeters. We rounded up on our inches and centimeters with my young daughter, but if you have kids that understand fractions and decimals, feel free to use them!

Some of them you measure the image right on the paper, others have the option to measure real objects, such as your foot, your hand, your pencil and your nose. This set includes 16 different measuring cards.

I printed ours on colored paper, but if you print them on white paper, the pictures could also be colored in to add another fun element to the activity.

Pick up some of these fun colored transparent rulers:

How to Print the Measuring with Inches and Centimeters Cards:

If you are teaching about measuring and want to help kids learn how many centimeters are in an inch, you’ll definitely want some of these printable cards.

You can find a copy of them in my shop!