Have you ever wondered how many days there are in a year or how many days are in a month? If so, we’ve got you covered. In this blog, we’ll explore the days and months of the year, including a breakdown of how many months there are in a year. Let’s get started!
In this blog, jump to:
How many days are there in a year?
There are 365 days in a year.
This is the same every year, apart from one exception… Once every four years, we have what’s called a ‘leap year’, which has 366 days!
When this happens, February gets an extra day added to it – from having 28 days in an average year to 29 days in a leap year.
You may be wondering why this happens (as it does seem pretty strange!). Well, the extra day is added to help synchronise our calendar (known as the ‘Georgian calendar’) with the solar year, or the length of time it takes Earth to complete its orbit around the sun.
If this extra day wasn’t added, our calendar wouldn’t match the Earth’s orbit. This would mean that our seasons would gradually become more and more out of sync – so we’d eventually have cold, snowy summers!
How many months are there in a year?
There are 12 months in a year.
These months are the same every year and always run in the same order, starting with January at the start of the year and ending with December at the end of the year.
The 12 months in our calendar are:
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
These months fit into our seasons – summer, autumn, winter and spring. Each season lasts around 3 months, and the months that make up each season are:
- Winter: December, January and February
- Spring: March, April and May
- Summer: June, July and August
- Autumn: September, October and November
Ready to put your knowledge of months into practice? Have a go at a practice question!
How many days are in each month?
The number of days in each month varies, but they’re always between 28 and 31 days.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the number of days in each month:
- January: 31 days
- February: 28 days (29 days in a leap year)
- March: 31 days
- April: 30 days
- May: 31 days
- June: 30 days
- July: 31 days
- August: 31 days
- September: 30 days
- October: 31 days
- November: 30 days
- December: 31 days
This may seem like a lot to remember, but don’t worry! This rhyme will make them really easy to memorise:
30 days have September,
April, June and November.
All the rest have 31,
except for February alone,
which has 28 days clear
and 29 in each leap year.
In summary…
- A year has 365 days, with 366 days in a leap year
- There are 12 months in a year
- The number of days in each month varies between 28 and 31 days
And there we have it! With this handy summary, it’ll be easy to remember these key facts.
For even more ways to explore measurements of time, be sure to download the DoodleMaths app.
Designed to be used for just a few minutes a day, it’s filled with fun, interactive exercises that explore the whole EYFS, KS1 and KS2 maths curriculum – and best of all, you can try it for free!
