Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
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?
Dotty Six is a simple dice game that you can adapt in many ways.
How can we help students make sense of addition and subtraction of negative numbers?
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?
Can you substitute numbers for the letters in these sums?
Choose four different digits from 1-9 and put one in each box so that the resulting four two-digit numbers add to a total of 100.
Cassandra, David and Lachlan are brothers and sisters. They range in age between 1 year and 14 years. Can you figure out their exact ages from the clues?
Place the digits 1 to 9 into the circles so that each side of the triangle adds to the same total.
Arrange the numbers 1 to 6 in each set of circles below. The sum of each side of the triangle should equal the number in its centre.
Using 3 rods of integer lengths, none longer than 10 units and not using any rod more than once, you can measure all the lengths in whole units from 1 to 10 units. How many ways can you do this?
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.
Tell your friends that you have a strange calculator that turns numbers backwards. What secret number do you have to enter to make 141 414 turn around?
The Scot, John Napier, invented these strips about 400 years ago to help calculate multiplication and division. Can you work out how to use Napier's bones to find the answer to these multiplications?
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?
Arrange three 1s, three 2s and three 3s in this square so that every row, column and diagonal adds to the same total.
Fill in the missing numbers so that adding each pair of corner numbers gives you the number between them (in the box).
Fill in the numbers to make the sum of each row, column and diagonal equal to 34. For an extra challenge try the huge American Flag magic square.
Exactly 195 digits have been used to number the pages in a book. How many pages does the book have?
Bernard Bagnall recommends some primary school problems which use numbers from the environment around us, from clocks to house numbers.
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?
Use 4 four times with simple operations so that you get the answer 12. Can you make 15, 16 and 17 too?
The clockmaker's wife cut up his birthday cake to look like a clock face. Can you work out who received each piece?
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?
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.
Noah saw 12 legs walk by into the Ark. How many creatures did he see?
This article gives you a few ideas for understanding the Got It! game and how you might find a winning strategy.
In this article for teachers, Elizabeth Carruthers and Maulfry Worthington explore the differences between 'recording mathematics' and 'representing mathematical thinking'.
How would you count the number of fingers in these pictures?
There are nasty versions of this dice game but we'll start with the nice ones...
What do the digits in the number fifteen add up to? How many other numbers have digits with the same total but no zeros?
Sweets are given out to party-goers in a particular way. Investigate the total number of sweets received by people sitting in different positions.
What happens when you add three numbers together? Will your answer be odd or even? How do you know?
Can you follow the rule to decode the messages?
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?
Can you design a new shape for the twenty-eight squares and arrange the numbers in a logical way? What patterns do you notice?
Can you put the numbers 1-5 in the V shape so that both 'arms' have the same total?
Start by putting one million (1 000 000) into the display of your calculator. Can you reduce this to 7 using just the 7 key and add, subtract, multiply, divide and equals as many times as you like?
Choose four of the numbers from 1 to 9 to put in the squares so that the differences between joined squares are odd.
Susie took cherries out of a bowl by following a certain pattern. How many cherries had there been in the bowl to start with if she was left with 14 single ones?
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.
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?
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?
Are these domino games fair? Can you explain why or why not?
Use the interactivities to fill in these Carroll diagrams. How do you know where to place the numbers?
How have the numbers been placed in this Carroll diagram? Which labels would you put on each row and column?
Can you draw a continuous line through 16 numbers on this grid so that the total of the numbers you pass through is as high as possible?
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?
In this problem you have to place four by four magic squares on the faces of a cube so that along each edge of the cube the numbers match.