List

Shapes

Opening patterns
problem

Opening patterns

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Look at some of the patterns in the Olympic Opening ceremonies and see what shapes you can spot.
Curve Spotting
problem

Curve Spotting

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Can you spot circles, spirals and other types of curves in these photos?
Let's Investigate Triangles
problem
Favourite

Let's Investigate Triangles

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Vincent and Tara are making triangles with the class construction set. They have a pile of strips of different lengths. How many different triangles can they make?

A City of Towers
problem
Favourite

A City of Towers

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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In this town, houses are built with one room for each person. There are some families of seven people living in the town. In how many different ways can they build their houses?

Building with Solid Shapes
problem
Favourite

Building with Solid Shapes

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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We have a box of cubes, triangular prisms, cones, cuboids, cylinders and tetrahedrons. Which of the buildings would fall down if we tried to make them?

Board Block
problem

Board Block

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Take it in turns to make a triangle on the pegboard. Can you block your opponent?
Chairs and Tables
problem
Favourite

Chairs and Tables

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Make a chair and table out of interlocking cubes, making sure that the chair fits under the table!

Matching Triangles
problem
Favourite

Matching Triangles

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Can you sort these triangles into three different families and explain how you did it?

Inside Triangles
problem
Favourite

Inside Triangles

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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How many different triangles can you draw on the dotty grid which each have one dot in the middle?
Repeating Patterns
problem
Favourite

Repeating Patterns

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Try continuing these patterns made from triangles. Can you create your own repeating pattern?
Exploded Squares
problem
Favourite

Exploded Squares

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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This practical activity challenges you to create symmetrical designs by cutting a square into strips.
Shapely Lines
problem
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Shapely Lines

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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This challenge invites you to create your own picture using just straight lines. Can you identify shapes with the same number of sides and decorate them in the same way?

Triple Cubes
problem
Favourite

Triple Cubes

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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This challenge involves eight three-cube models made from interlocking cubes. Investigate different ways of putting the models together then compare your constructions.

Sorting Logic Blocks
problem
Favourite

Sorting Logic Blocks

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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This activity focuses on similarities and differences between shapes.

Rolling that cube
problem
Favourite

Rolling that cube

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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My dice has inky marks on each face. Can you find the route it has taken? What does each face look like?
Shaping It
problem
Favourite

Shaping It

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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These pictures were made by starting with a square, finding the half-way point on each side and joining those points up. You could investigate your own starting shape.
Poly Plug Rectangles
problem
Favourite

Poly Plug Rectangles

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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The computer has made a rectangle and will tell you the number of spots it uses in total. Can you find out where the rectangle is?
Data shapes
problem
Favourite

Data shapes

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Sara and Will were sorting some pictures of shapes on cards. "I'll collect the circles," said Sara. "I'll take the red ones," answered Will. Can you see any cards they would both want?

What's happening?
problem
Favourite

What's happening?

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Shapes are added to other shapes. Can you see what is happening? What is the rule?

Colouring Triangles
problem
Favourite

Colouring Triangles

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Explore ways of colouring this set of triangles. Can you make symmetrical patterns?

Chain of Changes
problem
Favourite

Chain of Changes

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Arrange the shapes in a line so that you change either colour or shape in the next piece along. Can you find several ways to start with a blue triangle and end with a red circle?

Four Colours
problem

Four Colours

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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Kate has eight multilink cubes. She has two red ones, two yellow, two green and two blue. She wants to fit them together to make a cube so that each colour shows on each face just once.
Skeleton Shapes
problem
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Skeleton Shapes

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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How many balls of modelling clay and how many straws does it take to make these skeleton shapes?

Making Shapes
problem

Making Shapes

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Arrange any number of counters from these 18 on the grid to make a rectangle. What numbers of counters make rectangles? How many different rectangles can you make with each number of counters?
Building with Cubes
problem

Building with Cubes

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Try to picture these buildings of cubes in your head. Can you make them to check whether you had imagined them correctly?
Happy Halving
problem
Favourite

Happy Halving

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Can you split each of the shapes below in half so that the two parts are exactly the same?

Shadow Play
problem
Favourite

Shadow Play

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Here are shadows of some 3D shapes. What shapes could have made them?

Complete the Square
problem
Favourite

Complete the Square

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Complete the squares - but be warned some are trickier than they look!

Start Cube Drilling
problem

Start Cube Drilling

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Imagine a 3 by 3 by 3 cube. If you and a friend drill holes in some of the small cubes in the ways described, how many will have holes drilled through them?
Cubes
problem
Favourite

Cubes

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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How many faces can you see when you arrange these three cubes in different ways?
Square It
problem
Favourite

Square It

Age
11 to 16
Challenge level
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Players take it in turns to choose a dot on the grid. The winner is the first to have four dots that can be joined to form a square.