Being Resourceful is part of our Developing Mathematical Mindsets - Primary Teachers collection.
Good thinkers are resourceful and reflective. They think critically and can explain and justify the choices that they make. They become absorbed in what they are doing and show attention to detail. They look back on what they have done in order to learn from both successes and failures.
How do we help our learners to become more resourceful?
These problems require careful consideration. If you allow your learners time to immerse themselves in the problems, they may learn to appreciate that the journey is often as important as the destination.
You can browse through the Number, Measures, Geometry or Statistics collections, or scroll down to see the full set of problems below.
Being Resourceful - Primary Number
Being Resourceful - Primary Measures
Being Resourceful - Primary Geometry
Being Resourceful - Primary Statistics
Dotty six
Dotty Six is a simple dice game that you can adapt in many ways.
Poly plug rectangles
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?
The animals' sports day
One day five small animals in my garden were going to have a sports day. They decided to have a swimming race, a running race, a high jump and a long jump.
Seeing squares
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.
Ladybird count
Some children were playing a game. Make a graph or picture to show how many ladybirds each child had.
Turning man
Repeating patterns
Heads and feet
Eggs in baskets
Wallpaper
These pieces of wallpaper need to be ordered from smallest to largest. Can you find a way to do it?
4 dom
The tall tower
Magic Vs
Can you put the numbers 1-5 in the V shape so that both 'arms' have the same total?
Treasure hunt
Can you find a reliable strategy for choosing coordinates that will locate the treasure in the minimum number of guesses?
Coded hundred square
Nice or nasty
The remainders game
Play this game and see if you can figure out the computer's chosen number.
Missing multipliers
Dicey operations in line
Play to 37
Dozens
Can you select the missing digit(s) to find the largest multiple?
Satisfying four statements
A puzzling cube
Here are the six faces of a cube - in no particular order. Here are three views of the cube. Can you deduce where the faces are in relation to each other and record them on the net of this cube?
Square corners
What is the greatest number of counters you can place on the grid below without four of them lying at the corners of a square?
Torn shapes
Shape times shape
These eleven shapes each stand for a different number. Can you use the number sentences to work out what they are?
First connect three
Cows and sheep
Eight hidden squares
On the graph there are 28 marked points. These points all mark the vertices (corners) of eight hidden squares. Can you find the eight hidden squares?
Baravelle
What can you see? What do you notice? What questions can you ask?
Through the window
My local DIY shop calculates the price of its windows according to the area of glass and the length of frame used. Can you work out how they arrived at these prices?
Twenty divided into six
Number lines in disguise
Mystery matrix
Sealed solution
Sponge sections
You have been given three shapes made out of sponge: a sphere, a cylinder and a cone. Your challenge is to find out how to cut them to make different shapes for printing.
Cut nets
Each of the nets of nine solid shapes has been cut into two pieces. Can you see which pieces go together?
Four go
Two and two
How many solutions can you find to this sum? Each of the different letters stands for a different number.