Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
This article is based on some of the ideas that emerged during the production of a book which takes visualising as its focus. We began to identify problems which helped us to take a structured view. . . .
This is the first article in a series which aim to provide some insight into the way spatial thinking develops in children, and draw on a range of reported research. The focus of this article is the. . . .
Swap the stars with the moons, using only knights' moves (as on a chess board). What is the smallest number of moves possible?
Here you see the front and back views of a dodecahedron. Each vertex has been numbered so that the numbers around each pentagonal face add up to 65. Can you find all the missing numbers?
Make one big triangle so the numbers that touch on the small triangles add to 10. You could use the interactivity to help you.
In this town, houses are built with one room for each person. There are some families of seven people living in the town. In how many different ways can they build their houses?
Can you find ways of joining cubes together so that 28 faces are visible?
Can you find a way of representing these arrangements of balls?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of this junk?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of these convex shapes?
This article for teachers describes how modelling number properties involving multiplication using an array of objects not only allows children to represent their thinking with concrete materials,. . . .
Players take it in turns to choose a dot on the grid. The winner is the first to have four dots that can be joined to form a square.
The aim of the game is to slide the green square from the top right hand corner to the bottom left hand corner in the least number of moves.
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of this plaque design?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of the rocket?
A hundred square has been printed on both sides of a piece of paper. What is on the back of 100? 58? 23? 19?
Lyndon Baker describes how the Mobius strip and Euler's law can introduce pupils to the idea of topology.
These points all mark the vertices (corners) of ten hidden squares. Can you find the 10 hidden squares?
This article looks at levels of geometric thinking and the types of activities required to develop this thinking.
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of this goat and giraffe?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of this sports car?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of Little Ming and Little Fung dancing?
What happens when you turn these cogs? Investigate the differences between turning two cogs of different sizes and two cogs which are the same.
If you can post the triangle with either the blue or yellow colour face up, how many ways can it be posted altogether?
Here's a simple way to make a Tangram without any measuring or ruling lines.
Billy's class had a robot called Fred who could draw with chalk held underneath him. What shapes did the pupils make Fred draw?
This article for teachers discusses examples of problems in which there is no obvious method but in which children can be encouraged to think deeply about the context and extend their ability to. . . .
Each of the nets of nine solid shapes has been cut into two pieces. Can you see which pieces go together?
Can you arrange the shapes in a chain so that each one shares a face (or faces) that are the same shape as the one that follows it?
Can you cut a regular hexagon into two pieces to make a parallelogram? Try cutting it into three pieces to make a rhombus!
Use the three triangles to fill these outline shapes. Perhaps you can create some of your own shapes for a friend to fill?
An extension of noughts and crosses in which the grid is enlarged and the length of the winning line can to altered to 3, 4 or 5.
Reasoning about the number of matches needed to build squares that share their sides.
Investigate the number of paths you can take from one vertex to another in these 3D shapes. Is it possible to take an odd number and an even number of paths to the same vertex?
Make a cube out of straws and have a go at this practical challenge.
You have been given three shapes made out of sponge: a sphere, a cylinder and a cone. Your challenge is to find out how to cut them to make different shapes for printing.
A shape and space game for 2,3 or 4 players. Be the last person to be able to place a pentomino piece on the playing board. Play with card, or on the computer.
A game for 2 players. Can be played online. One player has 1 red counter, the other has 4 blue. The red counter needs to reach the other side, and the blue needs to trap the red.
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outlines of the candle and sundial?
A game for 2 players. Given a board of dots in a grid pattern, players take turns drawing a line by connecting 2 adjacent dots. Your goal is to complete more squares than your opponent.
If you split the square into these two pieces, it is possible to fit the pieces together again to make a new shape. How many new shapes can you make?
A game for two players. You'll need some counters.
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outlines of Mai Ling and Chi Wing?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outlines of the watering can and man in a boat?
Investigate how the four L-shapes fit together to make an enlarged L-shape. You could explore this idea with other shapes too.
Here are shadows of some 3D shapes. What shapes could have made them?
Which of these dice are right-handed and which are left-handed?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outlines of the workmen?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of Wai Ping, Wah Ming and Chi Wing?
What is the total area of the four outside triangles which are outlined in red in this arrangement of squares inside each other?