Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
Cut differently-sized square corners from a square piece of paper to make boxes without lids. Do they all have the same volume?
Ana and Ross looked in a trunk in the attic. They found old cloaks and gowns, hats and masks. How many possible costumes could they make?
You cannot choose a selection of ice cream flavours that includes totally what someone has already chosen. Have a go and find all the different ways in which seven children can have ice cream.
If we had 16 light bars which digital numbers could we make? How will you know you've found them all?
How many ways can you find of tiling the square patio, using square tiles of different sizes?
When newspaper pages get separated at home we have to try to sort them out and get things in the correct order. How many ways can we arrange these pages so that the numbering may be different?
Investigate all the different squares you can make on this 5 by 5 grid by making your starting side go from the bottom left hand point. Can you find out the areas of all these squares?
Place the 16 different combinations of cup/saucer in this 4 by 4 arrangement so that no row or column contains more than one cup or saucer of the same colour.
The challenge here is to find as many routes as you can for a fence to go so that this town is divided up into two halves, each with 8 blocks.
What is the smallest number of tiles needed to tile this patio? Can you investigate patios of different sizes?
If you have three circular objects, you could arrange them so that they are separate, touching, overlapping or inside each other. Can you investigate all the different possibilities?
This challenge is to design different step arrangements, which must go along a distance of 6 on the steps and must end up at 6 high.
Write the numbers up to 64 in an interesting way so that the shape they make at the end is interesting, different, more exciting ... than just a square.
How many shapes can you build from three red and two green cubes? Can you use what you've found out to predict the number for four red and two green?
Using different numbers of sticks, how many different triangles are you able to make? Can you make any rules about the numbers of sticks that make the most triangles?
A thoughtful shepherd used bales of straw to protect the area around his lambs. Explore how you can arrange the bales.
In how many ways can you stack these rods, following the rules?
Arrange eight of the numbers between 1 and 9 in the Polo Square below so that each side adds to the same total.
How many models can you find which obey these rules?
How could you put eight beanbags in the hoops so that there are four in the blue hoop, five in the red and six in the yellow? Can you find all the ways of doing this?
An investigation that gives you the opportunity to make and justify predictions.
What is the smallest cuboid that you can put in this box so that you cannot fit another that's the same into it?
I like to walk along the cracks of the paving stones, but not the outside edge of the path itself. How many different routes can you find for me to take?
How many different shaped boxes can you design for 36 sweets in one layer? Can you arrange the sweets so that no sweets of the same colour are next to each other in any direction?
Use the interactivity to find all the different right-angled triangles you can make by just moving one corner of the starting triangle.
Take 5 cubes of one colour and 2 of another colour. How many different ways can you join them if the 5 must touch the table and the 2 must not touch the table?
An activity making various patterns with 2 x 1 rectangular tiles.
In this investigation, you must try to make houses using cubes. If the base must not spill over 4 squares and you have 7 cubes which stand for 7 rooms, what different designs can you come up with?
Suppose we allow ourselves to use three numbers less than 10 and multiply them together. How many different products can you find? How do you know you've got them all?
This problem is based on the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Investigate the different numbers of people and rats there could have been if you know how many legs there are altogether!
Investigate the different ways you could split up these rooms so that you have double the number.
Let's suppose that you are going to have a magazine which has 16 pages of A5 size. Can you find some different ways to make these pages? Investigate the pattern for each if you number the pages.
Ben has five coins in his pocket. How much money might he have?
Three children are going to buy some plants for their birthdays. They will plant them within circular paths. How could they do this?
Suppose there is a train with 24 carriages which are going to be put together to make up some new trains. Can you find all the ways that this can be done?
An investigation involving adding and subtracting sets of consecutive numbers. Lots to find out, lots to explore.
Lolla bought a balloon at the circus. She gave the clown six coins to pay for it. What could Lolla have paid for the balloon?
Place this "worm" on the 100 square and find the total of the four squares it covers. Keeping its head in the same place, what other totals can you make?
"Ip dip sky blue! Who's 'it'? It's you!" Where would you position yourself so that you are 'it' if there are two players? Three players ...?
What is the largest number of circles we can fit into the frame without them overlapping? How do you know? What will happen if you try the other shapes?
What is the largest cuboid you can wrap in an A3 sheet of paper?
Bernard Bagnall looks at what 'problem solving' might really mean in the context of primary classrooms.
We went to the cinema and decided to buy some bags of popcorn so we asked about the prices. Investigate how much popcorn each bag holds so find out which we might have bought.
In a Magic Square all the rows, columns and diagonals add to the 'Magic Constant'. How would you change the magic constant of this square?
How many different ways can you find of fitting five hexagons together? How will you know you have found all the ways?
In this investigation we are going to count the number of 1s, 2s, 3s etc in numbers. Can you predict what will happen?
If the answer's 2010, what could the question be?
Let's say you can only use two different lengths - 2 units and 4 units. Using just these 2 lengths as the edges how many different cuboids can you make?
When Charlie asked his grandmother how old she is, he didn't get a straightforward reply! Can you work out how old she is?
Investigate what happens when you add house numbers along a street in different ways.