Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
This problem is based on a code using two different prime numbers less than 10. You'll need to multiply them together and shift the alphabet forwards by the result. Can you decipher the code?
Use the information about Sally and her brother to find out how many children there are in the Brown family.
Can you put the numbers 1 to 8 into the circles so that the four calculations are correct?
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?
Can you work out how many flowers there will be on the Amazing Splitting Plant after it has been growing for six weeks?
Can you arrange 5 different digits (from 0 - 9) in the cross in the way described?
Can you see why 2 by 2 could be 5? Can you predict what 2 by 10 will be?
Katie had a pack of 20 cards numbered from 1 to 20. She arranged the cards into 6 unequal piles where each pile added to the same total. What was the total and how could this be done?
Find the product of the numbers on the routes from A to B. Which route has the smallest product? Which the largest?
On the table there is a pile of oranges and lemons that weighs exactly one kilogram. Using the information, can you work out how many lemons there are?
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!
Claire thinks she has the most sports cards in her album. "I have 12 pages with 2 cards on each page", says Claire. Ross counts his cards. "No! I have 3 cards on each of my pages and there are. . . .
This challenge is a game for two players. Choose two numbers from the grid and multiply or divide, then mark your answer on the number line. Can you get four in a row before your partner?
Can you fill in this table square? The numbers 2 -12 were used to generate it with just one number used twice.
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!
What do you notice about the date 03.06.09? Or 08.01.09? This challenge invites you to investigate some interesting dates yourself.
An old game but lots of arithmetic!
Choose a symbol to put into the number sentence.
Can you each work out the number on your card? What do you notice? How could you sort the cards?
Can you find which shapes you need to put into the grid to make the totals at the end of each row and the bottom of each column?
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?
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of rabbit there are in these pens?
Use your logical-thinking skills to deduce how much Dan's crisps and ice-cream cost altogether.
Put operations signs between the numbers 3 4 5 6 to make the highest possible number and lowest possible number.
A game for 2 people. Use your skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to blast the asteroids.
Twizzle, a female giraffe, needs transporting to another zoo. Which route will give the fastest journey?
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?
Annie and Ben are playing a game with a calculator. What was Annie's secret number?
There were 22 legs creeping across the web. How many flies? How many spiders?
Cherri, Saxon, Mel and Paul are friends. They are all different ages. Can you find out the age of each friend using the information?
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?
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.
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?
These eleven shapes each stand for a different number. Can you use the multiplication sums to work out what they are?
A group of children are using measuring cylinders but they lose the labels. Can you help relabel them?
A game for 2 or more players with a pack of cards. Practise your skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to hit the target score.
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.
Here are the prices for 1st and 2nd class mail within the UK. You have an unlimited number of each of these stamps. Which stamps would you need to post a parcel weighing 825g?
This multiplication uses each of the digits 0 - 9 once and once only. Using the information given, can you replace the stars in the calculation with figures?
What is happening at each box in these machines?
Imagine a pyramid which is built in square layers of small cubes. If we number the cubes from the top, starting with 1, can you picture which cubes are directly below this first cube?
Can you complete this jigsaw of the multiplication square?
Put a number at the top of the machine and collect a number at the bottom. What do you get? Which numbers get back to themselves?
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?
If the numbers 5, 7 and 4 go into this function machine, what numbers will come out?
Here is a chance to play a version of the classic Countdown Game.
Find the next number in this pattern: 3, 7, 19, 55 ...
If you had any number of ordinary dice, what are the possible ways of making their totals 6? What would the product of the dice be each time?
This group activity will encourage you to share calculation strategies and to think about which strategy might be the most efficient.
Tom and Ben visited Numberland. Use the maps to work out the number of points each of their routes scores.