Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
Starting with the number 180, take away 9 again and again, joining up the dots as you go. Watch out - don't join all the dots!
If you have only four weights, where could you place them in order to balance this equaliser?
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?
Can you fill in this table square? The numbers 2 -12 were used to generate it with just one number used twice.
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.
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?
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?
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?
Can you work out what a ziffle is on the planet Zargon?
Arrange the four number cards on the grid, according to the rules, to make a diagonal, vertical or horizontal line.
Which is quicker, counting up to 30 in ones or counting up to 300 in tens? Why?
Play the divisibility game to create numbers in which the first two digits make a number divisible by 2, the first three digits make a number divisible by 3...
Given the products of adjacent cells, can you complete this Sudoku?
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.
56 406 is the product of two consecutive numbers. What are these two numbers?
A mathematician goes into a supermarket and buys four items. Using a calculator she multiplies the cost instead of adding them. How can her answer be the same as the total at the till?
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?
Work out Tom's number from the answers he gives his friend. He will only answer 'yes' or 'no'.
Investigate the smallest number of moves it takes to turn these mats upside-down if you can only turn exactly three at a time.
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?
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?
Can you complete this jigsaw of the multiplication square?
The planet of Vuvv has seven moons. Can you work out how long it is between each super-eclipse?
What is the lowest number which always leaves a remainder of 1 when divided by each of the numbers from 2 to 10?
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?
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. . . .
Can you make square numbers by adding two prime numbers together?
Imagine a wheel with different markings painted on it at regular intervals. Can you predict the colour of the 18th mark? The 100th mark?
Can you order the digits from 1-6 to make a number which is divisible by 6 so when the last digit is removed it becomes a 5-figure number divisible by 5, and so on?
A game that tests your understanding of remainders.
A game in which players take it in turns to choose a number. Can you block your opponent?
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?"
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?
An environment which simulates working with Cuisenaire rods.
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.
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.
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?
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?
Investigate the sum of the numbers on the top and bottom faces of a line of three dice. What do you notice?
Given the products of diagonally opposite cells - can you complete this Sudoku?
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?
I am thinking of three sets of numbers less than 101. Can you find all the numbers in each set from these clues?
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.
These red, yellow and blue spinners were each spun 45 times in total. Can you work out which numbers are on each spinner?
This article for teachers describes how number arrays can be a useful reprentation for many number concepts.
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.
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?
Ben passed a third of his counters to Jack, Jack passed a quarter of his counters to Emma and Emma passed a fifth of her counters to Ben. After this they all had the same number of counters.
Can you find a relationship between the number of dots on the circle and the number of steps that will ensure that all points are hit?