Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
Chandrika was practising a long distance run. Can you work out how long the race was from the information?
Use this information to work out whether the front or back wheel of this bicycle gets more wear and tear.
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?
Mr. Sunshine tells the children they will have 2 hours of homework. After several calculations, Harry says he hasn't got time to do this homework. Can you see where his reasoning is wrong?
Bernard Bagnall recommends some primary school problems which use numbers from the environment around us, from clocks to house numbers.
Where can you draw a line on a clock face so that the numbers on both sides have the same total?
What is happening at each box in these machines?
What is the lowest number which always leaves a remainder of 1 when divided by each of the numbers from 2 to 10?
Use your logical-thinking skills to deduce how much Dan's crisps and ice-cream cost altogether.
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?
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?
There are four equal weights on one side of the scale and an apple on the other side. What can you say that is true about the apple and the weights from the picture?
This article for teachers looks at how teachers can use problems from the NRICH site to help them teach division.
Can you arrange 5 different digits (from 0 - 9) in the cross in the way described?
Put operations signs between the numbers 3 4 5 6 to make the highest possible number and lowest possible number.
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!
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?
Grandma found her pie balanced on the scale with two weights and a quarter of a pie. So how heavy was each pie?
Find the product of the numbers on the routes from A to B. Which route has the smallest product? Which the largest?
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.
Use 4 four times with simple operations so that you get the answer 12. Can you make 15, 16 and 17 too?
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!
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?
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.
A game for 2 people. Use your skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to blast the asteroids.
Look on the back of any modern book and you will find an ISBN code. Take this code and calculate this sum in the way shown. Can you see what the answers always have in common?
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?
Use the information to work out how many gifts there are in each pile.
EWWNP means Exploring Wild and Wonderful Number Patterns Created by Yourself! Investigate what happens if we create number patterns using some simple rules.
Go through the maze, collecting and losing your money as you go. Which route gives you the highest return? And the lowest?
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?
Tom and Ben visited Numberland. Use the maps to work out the number of points each of their routes scores.
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.
Explore Alex's number plumber. What questions would you like to ask? Don't forget to keep visiting NRICH projects site for the latest developments and questions.
How would you count the number of fingers in these pictures?
This group activity will encourage you to share calculation strategies and to think about which strategy might be the most efficient.
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?
After training hard, these two children have improved their results. Can you work out the length or height of their first jumps?
In November, Liz was interviewed for an article on a parents' website about learning times tables. Read the article here.
Resources to support understanding of multiplication and division through playing with number.
Explore Alex's number plumber. What questions would you like to ask? What do you think is happening to the numbers?
Look at different ways of dividing things. What do they mean? How might you show them in a picture, with things, with numbers and symbols?
This problem is designed to help children to learn, and to use, the two and three times tables.
This article for teachers suggests ideas for activities built around 10 and 2010.
If the answer's 2010, what could the question be?
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?
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of rabbit there are in these pens?
In this investigation, you are challenged to make mobile phone numbers which are easy to remember. What happens if you make a sequence adding 2 each time?
If the numbers 5, 7 and 4 go into this function machine, what numbers will come out?