Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
Mr McGregor has a magic potting shed. Overnight, the number of plants in it doubles. He'd like to put the same number of plants in each of three gardens, planting one garden each day. Can he do it?
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.
Can you see why 2 by 2 could be 5? Can you predict what 2 by 10 will be?
Here is a chance to play a version of the classic Countdown Game.
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?
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?
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?
Try adding together the dates of all the days in one week. Now multiply the first date by 7 and add 21. Can you explain what happens?
Use the information to work out how many gifts there are in each pile.
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 arrange 5 different digits (from 0 - 9) in the cross in the way described?
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?
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?
Can you score 100 by throwing rings on this board? Is there more than way to do it?
The value of the circle changes in each of the following problems. Can you discover its value in each problem?
Can you fill in this table square? The numbers 2 -12 were used to generate it with just one number used twice.
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!
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?
What is happening at each box in these machines?
Rocco ran in a 200 m race for his class. Use the information to find out how many runners there were in the race and what Rocco's finishing position was.
Put operations signs between the numbers 3 4 5 6 to make the highest possible number and lowest possible number.
Find the next number in this pattern: 3, 7, 19, 55 ...
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?
This number has 903 digits. What is the sum of all 903 digits?
Choose a symbol to put into the number sentence.
This group activity will encourage you to share calculation strategies and to think about which strategy might be the most efficient.
Look at what happens when you take a number, square it and subtract your answer. What kind of number do you get? Can you prove it?
Tom and Ben visited Numberland. Use the maps to work out the number of points each of their routes scores.
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?
Use your logical reasoning to work out how many cows and how many sheep there are in each field.
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of rabbit there are in these pens?
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?
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?
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?
Use your logical-thinking skills to deduce how much Dan's crisps and ice-cream cost altogether.
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.
If the numbers 5, 7 and 4 go into this function machine, what numbers will come out?
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?
A game for 2 people. Use your skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to blast the asteroids.
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!
Find at least one way to put in some operation signs (+ - x ÷) to make these digits come to 100.
These eleven shapes each stand for a different number. Can you use the multiplication sums to work out what they are?
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?
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?
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?