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If you have ten counters numbered 1 to 10, how many can you put into pairs that add to 10? Which ones do you have to leave out? Why?
What happens when you add the digits of a number then multiply the result by 2 and you keep doing this? You could try for different numbers and different rules.
This group activity will encourage you to share calculation strategies and to think about which strategy might be the most efficient.
This activity is best done with a whole class or in a large group. Can you match the cards? What happens when you add pairs of the numbers together?
Can you each work out the number on your card? What do you notice? How could you sort the cards?
There are nasty versions of this dice game but we'll start with the nice ones...
Here is a chance to play a version of the classic Countdown Game.
Can you put the numbers 1-5 in the V shape so that both 'arms' have the same total?
A group of children are using measuring cylinders but they lose the labels. Can you help relabel them?
Use your logical-thinking skills to deduce how much Dan's crisps and ice-cream cost altogether.
The picture shows a lighthouse and some underwater creatures. Can you work out the distances between some of the different creatures?
In this game, you can add, subtract, multiply or divide the numbers on the dice. Which will you do so that you get to the end of the number line first?
Can you use the numbers on the dice to reach your end of the number line before your partner beats you?
Add or subtract the two numbers on the spinners and try to complete a row of three. Are there some numbers that are good to aim for?
These caterpillars have 16 parts. What different shapes do they make if each part lies in the small squares of a 4 by 4 square?
Ahmed is making rods using different numbers of cubes. Which rod is twice the length of his first rod?
Have a go at this game which involves throwing two dice and adding their totals. Where should you place your counters to be more likely to win?
In this 100 square, look at the green square which contains the numbers 2, 3, 12 and 13. What is the sum of the numbers that are diagonally opposite each other? What do you notice?
Place the numbers from 1 to 9 in the squares below so that the difference between joined squares is odd. How many different ways can you do this?
Choose four of the numbers from 1 to 9 to put in the squares so that the differences between joined squares are odd.
These sixteen children are standing in four lines of four, one behind the other. They are each holding a card with a number on it. Can you work out the missing numbers?
Use these head, body and leg pieces to make Robot Monsters which are different heights.
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?
Find out what a Deca Tree is and then work out how many leaves there will be after the woodcutter has cut off a trunk, a branch, a twig and a leaf.
Can you put the numbers 1 to 8 into the circles so that the four calculations are correct?
Arrange three 1s, three 2s and three 3s in this square so that every row, column and diagonal adds to the same total.
This is an adding game for two players. Can you be the first to reach the target?
We start with one yellow cube and build around it to make a 3x3x3 cube with red cubes. Then we build around that red cube with blue cubes and so on. How many cubes of each colour have we used?
Can you make square numbers by adding two prime numbers together?
Mrs Morgan, the class's teacher, pinned numbers onto the backs of three children. Use the information to find out what the three numbers were.
At the beginning of May Tom put his tomato plant outside. On the same day he sowed a bean in another pot. When will the two be the same height?
48 is called an abundant number because it is less than the sum of its factors (without itself). Can you find some more abundant numbers?
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?
During the third hour after midnight the hands on a clock point in the same direction (so one hand is over the top of the other). At what time, to the nearest second, does this happen?
What do you notice about these squares of numbers? What is the same? What is different?
There are 78 prisoners in a square cell block of twelve cells. The clever prison warder arranged them so there were 25 along each wall of the prison block. How did he do it?
How many solutions can you find to this sum? Each of the different letters stands for a different number.
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?
There were chews for 2p, mini eggs for 3p, Chocko bars for 5p and lollypops for 7p in the sweet shop. What could each of the children buy with their money?
Can you work out how many flowers there will be on the Amazing Splitting Plant after it has been growing for six weeks?
Ben has five coins in his pocket. How much money might he have?
Can you go through this maze so that the numbers you pass add to exactly 100?
We can arrange dots in a similar way to the 5 on a dice and they usually sit quite well into a rectangular shape. How many altogether in this 3 by 5? What happens for other sizes?
Three children are going to buy some plants for their birthdays. They will plant them within circular paths. How could they do this?
An investigation involving adding and subtracting sets of consecutive numbers. Lots to find out, lots to explore.