Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
In this problem it is not the squares that jump, you do the jumping! The idea is to go round the track in as few jumps as possible.
Place the numbers 1 to 6 in the circles so that each number is the difference between the two numbers just below it.
There are 78 prisoners in a square cell block of twelve cells. The clever prison warder arranged them so there were 25 along each wall of the prison block. How did he do it?
Place the numbers 1 to 10 in the circles so that each number is the difference between the two numbers just below it.
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of rabbit there are in these pens?
Make one big triangle so the numbers that touch on the small triangles add to 10. You could use the interactivity to help you.
There are 44 people coming to a dinner party. There are 15 square tables that seat 4 people. Find a way to seat the 44 people using all 15 tables, with no empty places.
Use the information about Sally and her brother to find out how many children there are in the Brown family.
Can you make a cycle of pairs that add to make a square number using all the numbers in the box below, once and once only?
Amy's mum had given her £2.50 to spend. She bought four times as many pens as pencils and was given 40p change. How many of each did she buy?
Kate has eight multilink cubes. She has two red ones, two yellow, two green and two blue. She wants to fit them together to make a cube so that each colour shows on each face just once.
This 100 square jigsaw is written in code. It starts with 1 and ends with 100. Can you build it up?
Can you find a path from a number at the top of this network to the bottom which goes through each number from 1 to 9 once and once only?
Arrange the numbers 1 to 6 in each set of circles below. The sum of each side of the triangle should equal the number in its centre.
Can you see how these factor-multiple chains work? Find the chain which contains the smallest possible numbers. How about the largest possible numbers?
Use the three triangles to fill these outline shapes. Perhaps you can create some of your own shapes for a friend to fill?
Start by putting one million (1 000 000) into the display of your calculator. Can you reduce this to 7 using just the 7 key and add, subtract, multiply, divide and equals as many times as you like?
Put the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 into the squares so that the numbers on each circle add up to the same amount. Can you find the rule for giving another set of six numbers?
Katie had a pack of 20 cards numbered from 1 to 20. She arranged the cards into 6 unequal piles where each pile added to the same total. What was the total and how could this be done?
Your challenge is to find the longest way through the network following this rule. You can start and finish anywhere, and with any shape, as long as you follow the correct order.
Factor track is not a race but a game of skill. The idea is to go round the track in as few moves as possible, keeping to the rules.
What can you say about these shapes? This problem challenges you to create shapes with different areas and perimeters.
Skippy and Anna are locked in a room in a large castle. The key to that room, and all the other rooms, is a number. The numbers are locked away in a problem. Can you help them to get out?
Can you use the information to find out which cards I have used?
There are three versions of this challenge. The idea is to change the colour of all the spots on the grid. Can you do it in fewer throws of the dice?
There were chews for 2p, mini eggs for 3p, Chocko bars for 5p and lollypops for 7p in the sweet shop. What could each of the children buy with their money?
56 406 is the product of two consecutive numbers. What are these two numbers?
On a farm there were some hens and sheep. Altogether there were 8 heads and 22 feet. How many hens were there?
Work out Tom's number from the answers he gives his friend. He will only answer 'yes' or 'no'.
A dog is looking for a good place to bury his bone. Can you work out where he started and ended in each case? What possible routes could he have taken?
Is it possible to draw a 5-pointed star without taking your pencil off the paper? Is it possible to draw a 6-pointed star in the same way without taking your pen off?
There are three baskets, a brown one, a red one and a pink one, holding a total of 10 eggs. Can you use the information given to find out how many eggs are in each basket?
If these balls are put on a line with each ball touching the one in front and the one behind, which arrangement makes the shortest line of balls?
Have a go at this well-known challenge. Can you swap the frogs and toads in as few slides and jumps as possible?
There were 22 legs creeping across the web. How many flies? How many spiders?
I was looking at the number plate of a car parked outside. Using my special code S208VBJ adds to 65. Can you crack my code and use it to find out what both of these number plates add up to?
Pat counts her sweets in different groups and both times she has some left over. How many sweets could she have had?
Can you draw a continuous line through 16 numbers on this grid so that the total of the numbers you pass through is as high as possible?
You have a set of the digits from 0 – 9. Can you arrange these in the 5 boxes to make two-digit numbers as close to the targets as possible?
Can you make the green spot travel through the tube by moving the yellow spot? Could you draw a tube that both spots would follow?
Use your addition and subtraction skills, combined with some strategic thinking, to beat your partner at this game.
The discs for this game are kept in a flat square box with a square hole for each disc. Use the information to find out how many discs of each colour there are in the box.
As you come down the ladders of the Tall Tower you collect useful spells. Which way should you go to collect the most spells?
A shunting puzzle for 1 person. Swop the positions of the counters at the top and bottom of the board.
Use these four dominoes to make a square that has the same number of dots on each side.
During the third hour after midnight the hands on a clock point in the same direction (so one hand is over the top of the other). At what time, to the nearest second, does this happen?
On the planet Vuv there are two sorts of creatures. The Zios have 3 legs and the Zepts have 7 legs. The great planetary explorer Nico counted 52 legs. How many Zios and how many Zepts were there?
Using only six straight cuts, find a way to make as many pieces of pizza as possible. (The pieces can be different sizes and shapes).
Find at least one way to put in some operation signs (+ - x ÷) to make these digits come to 100.
Rocco ran in a 200 m race for his class. Use the information to find out how many runners there were in the race and what Rocco's finishing position was.