Being resourceful - Primary number

These spinners will give you the tens and unit digits of a number. Can you choose sets of numbers to collect so that you spin six numbers belonging to your sets in as few spins as possible?

Can you hang weights in the right place to make the the number balance balanced?

Leah and Tom each have a number line. Can you work out where their counters will land?

"Ip dip sky blue! Who's 'it'? It's you!" Where would you position yourself so that you are 'it' if there are two players? Three players ...?

How would you create the largest possible two-digit even number from the digit I've given you and one of your choice?

Use your addition and subtraction skills, combined with some strategic thinking, to beat your partner at this game.

This investigates one particular property of number by looking closely at an example of adding two odd numbers together.

Two children made up a game as they walked along the garden paths. Can you find out their scores? Can you find some paths of your own?

An activity centred around observations of dots and how we visualise number arrangement patterns.

Use five steps to count forwards or backwards in 1s or 10s to get to 50. What strategies did you use?

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?

How could you estimate the number of pencils/pens in these pictures?

This box does something to the numbers that go into it. If you know the numbers that come out, what might be going on inside the box?

An investigation looking at doing and undoing mathematical operations focusing on doubling, halving, adding and subtracting.

Are these statements relating to odd and even numbers always true, sometimes true or never true?

Here are some short problems for you to try. Talk to your friends about how you work them out.

It's Sahila's birthday and she is having a party. How could you answer these questions using a picture, with things, with numbers or symbols?

What two-digit numbers can you make with these two dice? What can't you make?

In this calculation, the box represents a missing digit. What could the digit be? What would the solution be in each case?

This challenge is about finding the difference between numbers which have the same tens digit.

Yasmin and Zach have some bears to share. Which numbers of bears can they share so that there are none left over?

In these addition games, you'll need to think strategically to get closest to the target.

Order these four calculations from easiest to hardest. How did you decide?

If you count from 1 to 20 and clap more loudly on the numbers in the two times table, as well as saying those numbers loudly, which numbers will be loud?

Andrew decorated 20 biscuits to take to a party. He lined them up and put icing on every second biscuit and different decorations on other biscuits. How many biscuits weren't decorated?

Can you spot the mistake in this video? How would you work out the answer to this calculation?

Lee was writing all the counting numbers from 1 to 20. She stopped for a rest after writing seventeen digits. What was the last number she wrote?

Can you match pairs of cards which show the same amount?

Can you find two butterflies to go on each flower so that the numbers on each pair of butterflies adds to the number on their flower?

Ben and his mum are planting garlic. Can you find out how many cloves of garlic they might have had?

How many trains can you make which are the same length as Matt's and Katie's, using rods that are identical?

In this problem, we're investigating the number of steps we would climb up or down to get out of or into the swimming pool. How could you number the steps below the water?

This activity is best done with a whole class or in a large group. Can you match the cards? What happens when you add pairs of the numbers together?

You have a set of the digits from 0 to 9. Can you arrange these in the five boxes to make two-digit numbers as close to the targets as possible?

How would you find out how many football cards Catrina has collected?

Investigate which numbers make these lights come on. What is the smallest number you can find that lights up all the lights?

Place the numbers 1 to 6 in the circles so that each number is the difference between the two numbers just below it.

In this problem it is not the squares that jump, you do the jumping! The idea is to go round the track in as few jumps as possible.

Four bags contain a large number of 1s, 3s, 5s and 7s. Can you pick any ten numbers from the bags so that their total is 37?

Noah saw 12 legs walk by into the Ark. How many creatures did he see?

These pictures show squares split into halves. Can you find other ways?

On a farm there were some hens and sheep. Altogether there were 8 heads and 22 feet. How many hens were there?

There are three baskets, a brown one, a red one and a pink one, holding a total of 10 eggs. How many eggs are in each basket?

This problem looks at how one example of your choice can show something about the general structure of multiplication.

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?

Frances and Rishi were given a bag of lollies. They shared them out evenly and had one left over. How many lollies could there have been in the bag?

Using the cards 2, 4, 6, 8, +, - and =, what number statements can you make?

Pat counts her sweets in different groups and both times she has some left over. How many sweets could she have had?

Arrange the numbers 1 to 6 in each set of circles below. The sum of each side of the triangle should equal the number in its centre.

Can you split each of the shapes below in half so that the two parts are exactly the same?

Can you work out how many flowers there will be on the Amazing Splitting Plant after it has been growing for six weeks?

As you come down the ladders of the Tall Tower you collect useful spells. Which way should you go to collect the most spells?

There are nasty versions of this dice game but we'll start with the nice ones...

48 is called an abundant number because it is less than the sum of its factors (without itself). Can you find some more abundant numbers?

Norrie sees two lights flash at the same time, then one of them flashes every 4th second, and the other flashes every 5th second. How many times do they flash together during a whole minute?

What happens when you add three numbers together? Will your answer be odd or even? How do you know?

The planet of Vuvv has seven moons. Can you work out how long it is between each super-eclipse?

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?

Can you complete this calculation by filling in the missing numbers? In how many different ways can you do it?

Can you work out some different ways to balance this equation?

Four strategy dice games to consolidate pupils' understanding of rounding.

Can you work out the arrangement of the digits in the square so that the given products are correct? The numbers 1 - 9 may be used once and once only.

Have a go at balancing this equation. Can you find different ways of doing it?

How do you know whether you will reach these numbers when you count in steps of six from zero?

Are these statements always true, sometimes true or never true?

Can you find any two-digit numbers that satisfy all of these statements?

In this game for two players, the idea is to take it in turns to choose 1, 3, 5 or 7. The winner is the first to make the total 37.

Can you match these calculation methods to their visual representations?

Can you replace the letters with numbers? Is there only one solution in each case?

Can you put these four calculations into order of difficulty? How did you decide?

Think of a number, square it and subtract your starting number. Is the number you're left with odd or even? How do the images help to explain this?

How much can you read into a T-shirt?

Can you match pairs of fractions, decimals and percentages, and beat your previous scores?

Can you find all the ways to get 15 at the top of this triangle of numbers? Many opportunities to work in different ways.

One block is needed to make an up-and-down staircase, with one step up and one step down. How many blocks would be needed to build an up-and-down staircase with 5 steps up and 5 steps down?

Try out these calculations. Are you surprised by the results?

Can you predict when you'll be clapping and when you'll be clicking if you start this rhythm? How about when a friend begins a new rhythm at the same time?

Lolla bought a balloon at the circus. She gave the clown six coins to pay for it. What could Lolla have paid for the balloon?

Can you complete this jigsaw of the multiplication square?

This big box multiplies anything that goes inside it by the same number. If you know the numbers that come out, what multiplication might be going on in the box?

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.

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?

Using the picture of the fraction wall, can you find equivalent fractions?

These eleven shapes each stand for a different number. Can you use the number sentences to work out what they are?

Add or subtract the two numbers on the spinners and try to complete a row of three. Are there some numbers that are good to aim for?

Can you find different ways of showing the same fraction? Try this matching game and see.

In this activity, the computer chooses a times table and shifts it. Can you work out the table and the shift each time?

What numbers would you put on this number line as it goes under the sea level?

The value of the circle changes in each of the following problems. Can you discover its value in each problem?

Can you put the numbers 1-5 in the V shape so that both 'arms' have the same total?

This group activity will encourage you to share calculation strategies and to think about which strategy might be the most efficient.

This 100 square jigsaw is written in code. It starts with 1 and ends with 100. Can you build it up?

Each light in this interactivity turns on according to a rule. What happens when you enter different numbers? Can you work out the rule for each light?

Find at least one way to put in some operation signs to make these digits come to 100.

Can you fill in this table square? The numbers 2 -12 were used to generate it with just one number used twice.