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 activity, the computer chooses a times table and shifts it. Can you work out the table and the shift each time?
Which pairs of cogs let the coloured tooth touch every tooth on the other cog? Which pairs do not let this happen? Why?
Norrie sees two lights flash at the same time, then one of them flashes every 4th second, and the other flashes every 5th second. How many times do they flash together during a whole minute?
Four of these clues are needed to find the chosen number on this grid and four are true but do nothing to help in finding the number. Can you sort out the clues and find the number?
Which is quicker, counting up to 30 in ones or counting up to 300 in tens? Why?
This article for teachers describes how number arrays can be a useful reprentation for many number concepts.
Can you find any perfect numbers? Read this article to find out more...
Becky created a number plumber which multiplies by 5 and subtracts 4. What do you notice about the numbers that it produces? Can you explain your findings?
Find the words hidden inside each of the circles by counting around a certain number of spaces to find each letter in turn.
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.
In a square in which the houses are evenly spaced, numbers 3 and 10 are opposite each other. What is the smallest and what is the largest possible number of houses in the square?
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?
For this challenge, you'll need to play Got It! Can you explain the strategy for winning this game with any target?
Can you see how these factor-multiple chains work? Find the chain which contains the smallest possible numbers. How about the largest possible numbers?
A game that tests your understanding of remainders.
These red, yellow and blue spinners were each spun 45 times in total. Can you work out which numbers are on each spinner?
This big box multiplies anything that goes inside it by the same number. If you know the numbers that come out, what multiplication might be going on in the box?
Follow the clues to find the mystery number.
Can you work out what a ziffle is on the planet Zargon?
I am thinking of three sets of numbers less than 101. Can you find all the numbers in each set from these clues?
Work out Tom's number from the answers he gives his friend. He will only answer 'yes' or 'no'.
I am thinking of three sets of numbers less than 101. They are the red set, the green set and the blue set. Can you find all the numbers in the sets from these clues?
How can you use just one weighing to find out which box contains the lighter ten coins out of the ten boxes?
A game for two people, or play online. Given a target number, say 23, and a range of numbers to choose from, say 1-4, players take it in turns to add to the running total to hit their target.
56 406 is the product of two consecutive numbers. What are these two numbers?
What is the lowest number which always leaves a remainder of 1 when divided by each of the numbers from 2 to 10?
Look at three 'next door neighbours' amongst the counting numbers. Add them together. What do you notice?
"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 ...?
Help share out the biscuits the children have made.
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.
Nearly all of us have made table patterns on hundred squares, that is 10 by 10 grids. This problem looks at the patterns on differently sized square grids.
Nine squares with side lengths 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, and 18 cm can be fitted together to form a rectangle. What are the dimensions of the rectangle?
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?
Are these domino games fair? Can you explain why or why not?
In this problem we are looking at sets of parallel sticks that cross each other. What is the least number of crossings you can make? And the greatest?
A game for 2 or more people. Starting with 100, subratct a number from 1 to 9 from the total. You score for making an odd number, a number ending in 0 or a multiple of 6.
A game for 2 people using a pack of cards Turn over 2 cards and try to make an odd number or a multiple of 3.
Can you find the chosen number from the grid using the clues?
Ben’s class were making cutting up number tracks. First they cut them into twos and added up the numbers on each piece. What patterns could they see?
I throw three dice and get 5, 3 and 2. Add the scores on the three dice. What do you get? Now multiply the scores. What do you notice?
There is a clock-face where the numbers have become all mixed up. Can you find out where all the numbers have got to from these ten statements?
There are a number of coins on a table. One quarter of the coins show heads. If I turn over 2 coins, then one third show heads. How many coins are there altogether?
Can you work out the arrangement of the digits in the square so that the given products are correct? The numbers 1 - 9 may be used once and once only.
Investigate the sum of the numbers on the top and bottom faces of a line of three dice. What do you notice?
Investigate the different shaped bracelets you could make from 18 different spherical beads. How do they compare if you use 24 beads?
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?
There are ten children in Becky's group. Can you find a set of numbers for each of them? Are there any other sets?
A game in which players take it in turns to choose a number. Can you block your opponent?
Does a graph of the triangular numbers cross a graph of the six times table? If so, where? Will a graph of the square numbers cross the times table too?
When Charlie asked his grandmother how old she is, he didn't get a straightforward reply! Can you work out how old she is?