Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
Annie and Ben are playing a game with a calculator. What was Annie's secret number?
Use the information to work out how many gifts there are in each pile.
The value of the circle changes in each of the following problems. Can you discover its value in each problem?
There are three buckets each of which holds a maximum of 5 litres. Use the clues to work out how much liquid there is in each bucket.
Can you work out how many flowers there will be on the Amazing Splitting Plant after it has been growing for six weeks?
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. . . .
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?
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?
Twizzle, a female giraffe, needs transporting to another zoo. Which route will give the fastest journey?
Put operations signs between the numbers 3 4 5 6 to make the highest possible number and lowest possible number.
Peter, Melanie, Amil and Jack received a total of 38 chocolate eggs. Use the information to work out how many eggs each person had.
There were 22 legs creeping across the web. How many flies? How many spiders?
These eleven shapes each stand for a different number. Can you use the multiplication sums to work out what they are?
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?
Find at least one way to put in some operation signs (+ - x ÷) to make these digits come to 100.
Can you arrange 5 different digits (from 0 - 9) in the cross in the way described?
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?
What is happening at each box in these machines?
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?
All the girls would like a puzzle each for Christmas and all the boys would like a book each. Solve the riddle to find out how many puzzles and books Santa left.
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.
Use 4 four times with simple operations so that you get the answer 12. Can you make 15, 16 and 17 too?
Find the product of the numbers on the routes from A to B. Which route has the smallest product? Which the largest?
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?
Where can you draw a line on a clock face so that the numbers on both sides have the same total?
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?
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?
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?
What do you notice about the date 03.06.09? Or 08.01.09? This challenge invites you to investigate some interesting dates yourself.
Amy has a box containing domino pieces but she does not think it is a complete set. She has 24 dominoes in her box and there are 125 spots on them altogether. Which of her domino pieces are missing?
Find the next number in this pattern: 3, 7, 19, 55 ...
This group activity will encourage you to share calculation strategies and to think about which strategy might be the most efficient.
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?
This number has 903 digits. What is the sum of all 903 digits?
Use your logical reasoning to work out how many cows and how many sheep there are in each field.
A game for 2 people. Use your skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to blast the asteroids.
Use your logical-thinking skills to deduce how much Dan's crisps and ice-cream cost altogether.
Go through the maze, collecting and losing your money as you go. Which route gives you the highest return? And the lowest?
If the numbers 5, 7 and 4 go into this function machine, what numbers will come out?
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of rabbit there are in these pens?
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!
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!
Cherri, Saxon, Mel and Paul are friends. They are all different ages. Can you find out the age of each friend using the information?
Use the information about Sally and her brother to find out how many children there are in the Brown family.
Find another number that is one short of a square number and when you double it and add 1, the result is also a square number.
A group of children are using measuring cylinders but they lose the labels. Can you help relabel them?
On a calculator, make 15 by using only the 2 key and any of the four operations keys. How many ways can you find to do it?
Can you fill in this table square? The numbers 2 -12 were used to generate it with just one number used twice.
Can you replace the letters with numbers? Is there only one solution in each case?
There are over sixty different ways of making 24 by adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing all four numbers 4, 6, 6 and 8 (using each number only once). How many can you find?