List

KS3 roadshow

Two Stones
game

Two stones

This game is known as Pong hau k'i in China and Ou-moul-ko-no in Korea. Why not challenge a friend to play it with you?

Factors and Multiples Game
game
Favourite

Factors and multiples game

A game in which players take it in turns to choose a number. Can you block your opponent?

Twinkle Twinkle
game

Twinkle twinkle

A game for 2 people. Take turns placing a counter on the star. You win when you have completed a line of 3 in your colour.
Dicey Operations
game
Favourite

Dicey operations

Who said that adding and subtracting couldn't be fun?

Dozens
problem
Favourite

Dozens

Age
7 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star

Can you select the missing digit(s) to find the largest multiple?

Air Nets
problem

Air nets

Age
7 to 18
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Can you visualise whether these nets fold up into 3D shapes? Watch the videos each time to see if you were correct.
More Less is More
problem
Favourite

More less is more

Age
7 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
In each of these games, you will need a little bit of luck, and your knowledge of place value to develop a winning strategy.
Pentanim
game

Pentanim

A game for 2 players with similarities to NIM. Place one counter on each spot on the games board. Players take it is turns to remove 1 or 2 adjacent counters. The winner picks up the last counter.
Low Go
game

Low go

A game for 2 players. Take turns to place a counter so that it occupies one of the lowest possible positions in the grid. The first player to complete a line of 4 wins.
Fifteen
game

Fifteen

Can you spot the similarities between this game and other games you know? The aim is to choose 3 numbers that total 15.

Number Sandwiches
problem

Number sandwiches

Age
7 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Can you arrange the digits 1, 1, 2, 2, 3 and 3 to make a Number Sandwich?
Prime Magic
problem

Prime magic

Age
7 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Place the numbers 1, 2, 3,..., 9 one on each square of a 3 by 3 grid so that all the rows and columns add up to a prime number. How many different solutions can you find?
Colour in the Square
problem

Colour in the square

Age
7 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Can you put the 25 coloured tiles into the 5 x 5 square so that no column, no row and no diagonal line have tiles of the same colour in them?
Dominoes
game

Dominoes

Everthing you have always wanted to do with dominoes! Some of these games are good for practising your mental calculation skills, and some are good for your reasoning skills.
Got It
problem
Favourite

Got it

Age
7 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star

A game for two people, or play online. Given a target number, say 23, and a range of numbers to choose from, say 1-4, players take it in turns to add to the running total to hit their target.

Remainders
problem
Favourite

Remainders

Age
7 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star

I'm thinking of a number. My number is both a multiple of 5 and a multiple of 6. What could my number be?

Tea Cups
problem

Tea cups

Age
7 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
Place the 16 different combinations of cup/saucer in this 4 by 4 arrangement so that no row or column contains more than one cup or saucer of the same colour.
Eight Dominoes
problem

Eight dominoes

Age
7 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
Using the 8 dominoes make a square where each of the columns and rows adds up to 8
Two and Two
problem
Favourite

Two and two

Age
7 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star

How many solutions can you find to this sum? Each of the different letters stands for a different number.

Domino Magic Rectangle
game

Domino magic rectangle

An ordinary set of dominoes can be laid out as a 7 by 4 magic rectangle in which all the spots in all the columns add to 24, while those in the rows add to 42. Try it! Now try the magic square...

Are we nearly there?
problem
Favourite

Are we nearly there?

Age
11 to 16
Can you describe the route followed by the arrows?
Getting round the city
problem

Getting round the city

Age
11 to 16
In a city with a grid system of roads, how do you get from A to B?
Reflecting Squarely
problem
Favourite

Reflecting squarely

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star

In how many ways can you fit all three pieces together to make shapes with line symmetry?

Cinema Problem
problem
Favourite

Cinema problem

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star

A cinema has 100 seats. How can ticket sales make £100 for these different combinations of ticket prices?

Shady Symmetry
problem
Favourite

Shady symmetry

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
How many different symmetrical shapes can you make by shading triangles or squares?
Special Numbers
problem
Favourite

Special numbers

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star

My two digit number is special because adding the sum of its digits to the product of its digits gives me my original number. What could my number be?

Square It
problem
Favourite

Square it

Age
11 to 16
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star

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.

Consecutive Seven
problem
Favourite

Consecutive seven

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Can you arrange these numbers into 7 subsets, each of three numbers, so that when the numbers in each are added together, they make seven consecutive numbers?
Sociable Cards
problem
Favourite

Sociable cards

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Move your counters through this snake of cards and see how far you can go. Are you surprised by where you end up?
Substitution Cipher
problem
Favourite

Substitution cipher

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Find the frequency distribution for ordinary English, and use it to help you crack the code.
Take Ten Sticks
problem
Favourite

Take ten sticks

Age
11 to 16
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Take ten sticks in heaps any way you like. Make a new heap using one from each of the heaps. By repeating that process could the arrangement 7 - 1 - 1 - 1 ever turn up, except by starting with it?
What numbers can we make?
problem
Favourite

What numbers can we make?

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star

Imagine we have four bags containing a large number of 1s, 4s, 7s and 10s. What numbers can we make?

Factors and Multiples Puzzle
problem
Favourite

Factors and multiples puzzle

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Using your knowledge of the properties of numbers, can you fill all the squares on the board?
Olympic Records
problem
Favourite

Olympic records

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Can you deduce which Olympic athletics events are represented by the graphs?
Cayley
problem

Cayley

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
The letters in the following addition sum represent the digits 1 ... 9. If A=3 and D=2, what number is represented by "CAYLEY"?
Fractions jigsaw
problem
Favourite

Fractions jigsaw

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
A jigsaw where pieces only go together if the fractions are equivalent.
Odds, Evens and More Evens
problem
Favourite

Odds, evens and more evens

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star

Alison, Bernard and Charlie have been exploring sequences of odd and even numbers, which raise some intriguing questions...

Magic Letters
problem
Favourite

Magic letters

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Charlie has made a Magic V. Can you use his example to make some more? And how about Magic Ls, Ns and Ws?
Olympic Measures
problem
Favourite

Olympic measures

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
These Olympic quantities have been jumbled up! Can you put them back together again?
American Billions
problem
Favourite

American billions

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Play the divisibility game to create numbers in which the first two digits make a number divisible by 2, the first three digits make a number divisible by 3...
Cryptarithms
problem
Favourite

Cryptarithms

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Can you crack these cryptarithms?
Add to 200
problem
Favourite

Add to 200

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
By selecting digits for an addition grid, what targets can you make?
Can they be equal?
problem
Favourite

Can they be equal?

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Can you find rectangles where the value of the area is the same as the value of the perimeter?
Forwards Add Backwards
problem
Favourite

Forwards add backwards

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
What happens when you add a three digit number to its reverse?
Multiples Sudoku
problem
Favourite

Multiples Sudoku

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star

Each clue in this Sudoku is the product of the two numbers in adjacent cells.

Sticky Numbers
problem
Favourite

Sticky numbers

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Can you arrange the numbers 1 to 17 in a row so that each adjacent pair adds up to a square number?
What's it worth?
problem
Favourite

What's it worth?

Age
11 to 16
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star

There are lots of different methods to find out what the shapes are worth - how many can you find?

Colourful Cube
problem
Favourite

Colourful cube

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
A colourful cube is made from little red and yellow cubes. But can you work out how many of each?
Guess \my Quad
problem
Favourite

Guess my quad

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star

How many questions do you need to identify my quadrilateral?

Frogs
problem
Favourite

Frogs

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
How many moves does it take to swap over some red and blue frogs? Do you have a method?
Gabriel's Problem
problem
Favourite

Gabriel's problem

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Gabriel multiplied together some numbers and then erased them. Can you figure out where each number was?
Bow Tie
problem

Bow tie

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Show how this pentagonal tile can be used to tile the plane and describe the transformations which map this pentagon to its images in the tiling.
Take Three From Five
problem
Favourite

Take three from five

Age
11 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star

Caroline and James pick sets of five numbers. Charlie tries to find three that add together to make a multiple of three. Can they stop him?

Last Biscuit
game

Last biscuit

Can you find a strategy that ensures you get to take the last biscuit in this game?

Peaches today, Peaches tomorrow...
problem
Favourite

Peaches today, peaches tomorrow...

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
A monkey with peaches, keeps a fraction of them each day, gives the rest away, and then eats one. How long can his peaches last?
Squares in rectangles
problem
Favourite

Squares in rectangles

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
A 2 by 3 rectangle contains 8 squares and a 3 by 4 rectangle contains 20 squares. What size rectangle(s) contain(s) exactly 100 squares? Can you find them all?
Always a multiple?
problem
Favourite

Always a multiple?

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Think of a two digit number, reverse the digits, and add the numbers together. Something special happens...
Product Sudoku
problem
Favourite

Product Sudoku

Age
11 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star

The clues for this Sudoku are the product of the numbers in adjacent squares.

Opposite vertices
problem
Favourite

Opposite vertices

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star

Can you recreate squares and rhombuses if you are only given a side or a diagonal?

Where can we visit?
problem
Favourite

Where can we visit?

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Charlie and Abi put a counter on 42. They wondered if they could visit all the other numbers on their 1-100 board, moving the counter using just these two operations: x2 and -5. What do you think?
Route to infinity
problem
Favourite

Route to infinity

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Can you describe this route to infinity? Where will the arrows take you next?
3388
problem

3388

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Using some or all of the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and using the digits 3, 3, 8 and 8 each once and only once make an expression equal to 24.
Temperature
problem
Favourite

Temperature

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Is there a temperature at which Celsius and Fahrenheit readings are the same?
Connect Three
problem
Favourite

Connect three

Age
11 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star

In this game the winner is the first to complete a row of three. Are some squares easier to land on than others?

crossing the bridge
problem

Crossing the bridge

Age
11 to 18
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star

Four friends must cross a bridge. How can they all cross it in just 17 minutes?

Zin Obelisk
problem

Zin obelisk

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
In the ancient city of Atlantis a solid rectangular object called a Zin was built in honour of the goddess Tina. Your task is to determine on which day of the week the obelisk was completed.
Marbles in a box
problem
Favourite

Marbles in a box

Age
11 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
How many winning lines can you make in a three-dimensional version of noughts and crosses?
1 Step 2 Step
problem
Favourite

1 step 2 step

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Liam's house has a staircase with 12 steps. He can go down the steps one at a time or two at time. In how many different ways can Liam go down the 12 steps?
Overlaps
problem
Favourite

Overlaps

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Can you find ways to put numbers in the overlaps so the rings have equal totals?
Making Rectangles, Making Squares
problem

Making rectangles, making squares

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
How many differently shaped rectangles can you build using these equilateral and isosceles triangles? Can you make a square?
Fibonacci Surprises
problem
Favourite

Fibonacci surprises

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star

Play around with the Fibonacci sequence and discover some surprising results!

Tower of Hanoi
problem
Favourite

Tower of Hanoi

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star

The Tower of Hanoi is an ancient mathematical challenge. Working on the building blocks may help you to explain the patterns you notice.

Who's who?
problem

Who's who?

Age
11 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star

Can you solve the clues to find out who's who on the friendship graph?

One, Three, Five, Seven
game

One, three, five, seven

A game for 2 players. Set out 16 counters in rows of 1,3,5 and 7. Players take turns to remove any number of counters from a row. The player left with the last counter looses.
Tourism
problem

Tourism

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
If you can copy a network without lifting your pen off the paper and without drawing any line twice, then it is traversable. Decide which of these diagrams are traversable.
Cuboids
problem
Favourite

Cuboids

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
Can you find a cuboid that has a surface area of exactly 100 square units. Is there more than one? Can you find them all?
Instant Insanity
problem

Instant insanity

Age
11 to 18
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star

Given the nets of 4 cubes with the faces coloured in 4 colours, build a tower so that on each vertical wall no colour is repeated, that is all 4 colours appear.

Times right
problem

Times right

Age
11 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
Using the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, mulitply a two two digit numbers are multiplied to give a four digit number, so that the expression is correct. How many different solutions can you find?
Soma - So Good
problem

Soma - so good

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
Can you mentally fit the 7 SOMA pieces together to make a cube? Can you do it in more than one way?
Nine Colours
problem
Favourite

Nine colours

Age
11 to 16
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
Can you use small coloured cubes to make a 3 by 3 by 3 cube so that each face of the bigger cube contains one of each colour?
Domino tetrads
problem

Domino tetrads

Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
filled star filled star filled star
Is it possible to use all 28 dominoes arranging them in squares of four? What patterns can you see in the solution(s)?