Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
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.
Start with four numbers at the corners of a square and put the total of two corners in the middle of that side. Keep going... Can you estimate what the size of the last four numbers will be?
If the answer's 2010, what could the question be?
Investigate what happens when you add house numbers along a street in different ways.
In this section from a calendar, put a square box around the 1st, 2nd, 8th and 9th. Add all the pairs of numbers. What do you notice about the answers?
Well now, what would happen if we lost all the nines in our number system? Have a go at writing the numbers out in this way and have a look at the multiplications table.
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?
Explore Alex's number plumber. What questions would you like to ask? What do you think is happening to the numbers?
Investigate this balance which is marked in halves. If you had a weight on the left-hand 7, where could you hang two weights on the right to make it balance?
Ahmed is making rods using different numbers of cubes. Which rod is twice the length of his first rod?
There are 4 jugs which hold 9 litres, 7 litres, 4 litres and 2 litres. Find a way to pour 9 litres of drink from one jug to another until you are left with exactly 3 litres in three of the jugs.
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?
You have 5 darts and your target score is 44. How many different ways could you score 44?
Find all the numbers that can be made by adding the dots on two dice.
Using the cards 2, 4, 6, 8, +, - and =, what number statements can you make?
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?
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?
Place the numbers 1 to 10 in the circles so that each number is the difference between the two numbers just below it.
Bernard Bagnall recommends some primary school problems which use numbers from the environment around us, from clocks to house numbers.
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?
There are 44 people coming to a dinner party. There are 15 square tables that seat 4 people. Find a way to seat the 44 people using all 15 tables, with no empty places.
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!
Can you put plus signs in so this is true? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 = 99 How many ways can you do it?
Winifred Wytsh bought a box each of jelly babies, milk jelly bears, yellow jelly bees and jelly belly beans. In how many different ways could she make a jolly jelly feast with 32 legs?
Find your way through the grid starting at 2 and following these operations. What number do you end on?
Zumf makes spectacles for the residents of the planet Zargon, who have either 3 eyes or 4 eyes. How many lenses will Zumf need to make all the different orders for 9 families?
Find the next number in this pattern: 3, 7, 19, 55 ...
Can you design a new shape for the twenty-eight squares and arrange the numbers in a logical way? What patterns do you notice?
Place the numbers 1 to 6 in the circles so that each number is the difference between the two numbers just below it.
Can you each work out the number on your card? What do you notice? How could you sort the cards?
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?
Skippy and Anna are locked in a room in a large castle. The key to that room, and all the other rooms, is a number. The numbers are locked away in a problem. Can you help them to get out?
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?
Complete these two jigsaws then put one on top of the other. What happens when you add the 'touching' numbers? What happens when you change the position of the jigsaws?
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?
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of rabbit there are in these pens?
Place six toy ladybirds into the box so that there are two ladybirds in every column and every row.
Move from the START to the FINISH by moving across or down to the next square. Can you find a route to make these totals?
These two group activities use mathematical reasoning - one is numerical, one geometric.
Arrange eight of the numbers between 1 and 9 in the Polo Square below so that each side adds to the same total.
Use these head, body and leg pieces to make Robot Monsters which are different heights.
If the numbers 5, 7 and 4 go into this function machine, what numbers will come out?
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?
This problem is based on the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Investigate the different numbers of people and rats there could have been if you know how many legs there are altogether!
In how many ways could Mrs Beeswax put ten coins into her three puddings so that each pudding ended up with at least two coins?
EWWNP means Exploring Wild and Wonderful Number Patterns Created by Yourself! Investigate what happens if we create number patterns using some simple rules.
You have two egg timers. One takes 4 minutes exactly to empty and the other takes 7 minutes. What times in whole minutes can you measure and how?
Suppose there is a train with 24 carriages which are going to be put together to make up some new trains. Can you find all the ways that this can be done?
In a Magic Square all the rows, columns and diagonals add to the 'Magic Constant'. How would you change the magic constant of this square?
Cherri, Saxon, Mel and Paul are friends. They are all different ages. Can you find out the age of each friend using the information?