Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
The letters of the word ABACUS have been arranged in the shape of a triangle. How many different ways can you find to read the word ABACUS from this triangular pattern?
This tricky challenge asks you to find ways of going across rectangles, going through exactly ten squares.
Rather than using the numbers 1-9, this sudoku uses the nine different letters used to make the words "Advent Calendar".
This cube has ink on each face which leaves marks on paper as it is rolled. Can you work out what is on each face and the route it has taken?
A few extra challenges set by some young NRICH members.
Countries from across the world competed in a sports tournament. Can you devise an efficient strategy to work out the order in which they finished?
Find the smallest whole number which, when mutiplied by 7, gives a product consisting entirely of ones.
An extra constraint means this Sudoku requires you to think in diagonals as well as horizontal and vertical lines and boxes of nine.
There is a long tradition of creating mazes throughout history and across the world. This article gives details of mazes you can visit and those that you can tackle on paper.
A package contains a set of resources designed to develop students’ mathematical thinking. This package places a particular emphasis on “being systematic” and is designed to meet. . . .
The idea of this game is to add or subtract the two numbers on the dice and cover the result on the grid, trying to get a line of three. Are there some numbers that are good to aim for?
A challenging activity focusing on finding all possible ways of stacking rods.
Five numbers added together in pairs produce: 0, 2, 4, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15 What are the five numbers?
A game for 2 people. Take turns placing a counter on the star. You win when you have completed a line of 3 in your colour.
The letters in the following addition sum represent the digits 1 ... 9. If A=3 and D=2, what number is represented by "CAYLEY"?
A student in a maths class was trying to get some information from her teacher. She was given some clues and then the teacher ended by saying, "Well, how old are they?"
Bellringers have a special way to write down the patterns they ring. Learn about these patterns and draw some of your own.
Find the values of the nine letters in the sum: FOOT + BALL = GAME
Can you find six numbers to go in the Daisy from which you can make all the numbers from 1 to a number bigger than 25?
Investigate the smallest number of moves it takes to turn these mats upside-down if you can only turn exactly three at a time.
Can you find which shapes you need to put into the grid to make the totals at the end of each row and the bottom of each column?
This package contains a collection of problems from the NRICH website that could be suitable for students who have a good understanding of Factors and Multiples and who feel ready to take on some. . . .
If you take a three by three square on a 1-10 addition square and multiply the diagonally opposite numbers together, what is the difference between these products. Why?
Make your own double-sided magic square. But can you complete both sides once you've made the pieces?
Move your counters through this snake of cards and see how far you can go. Are you surprised by where you end up?
A cinema has 100 seats. Show how it is possible to sell exactly 100 tickets and take exactly £100 if the prices are £10 for adults, 50p for pensioners and 10p for children.
A man has 5 coins in his pocket. Given the clues, can you work out what the coins are?
What do the numbers shaded in blue on this hundred square have in common? What do you notice about the pink numbers? How about the shaded numbers in the other squares?
Arrange the four number cards on the grid, according to the rules, to make a diagonal, vertical or horizontal line.
Given the products of adjacent cells, can you complete this Sudoku?
This challenge extends the Plants investigation so now four or more children are involved.
This challenging activity involves finding different ways to distribute fifteen items among four sets, when the sets must include three, four, five and six items.
Four friends must cross a bridge. How can they all cross it in just 17 minutes?
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?
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?
This magic square has operations written in it, to make it into a maze. Start wherever you like, go through every cell and go out a total of 15!
A merchant brings four bars of gold to a jeweller. How can the jeweller use the scales just twice to identify the lighter, fake bar?
Nina must cook some pasta for 15 minutes but she only has a 7-minute sand-timer and an 11-minute sand-timer. How can she use these timers to measure exactly 15 minutes?
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?
Stuart's watch loses two minutes every hour. Adam's watch gains one minute every hour. Use the information to work out what time (the real time) they arrived at the airport.
If these elves wear a different outfit every day for as many days as possible, how many days can their fun last?
Is it possible to place 2 counters on the 3 by 3 grid so that there is an even number of counters in every row and every column? How about if you have 3 counters or 4 counters or....?
If we had 16 light bars which digital numbers could we make? How will you know you've found them all?
Tim had nine cards each with a different number from 1 to 9 on it. How could he have put them into three piles so that the total in each pile was 15?
Have a go at this well-known challenge. Can you swap the frogs and toads in as few slides and jumps as possible?
These activities focus on finding all possible solutions so working in a systematic way will ensure none are left out.
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of rabbit there are in these pens?
What is the smallest number of tiles needed to tile this patio? Can you investigate patios of different sizes?
Can you fill in this table square? The numbers 2 -12 were used to generate it with just one number used twice.
When you throw two regular, six-faced dice you have more chance of getting one particular result than any other. What result would that be? Why is this?