Being collaborative - Primary number

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

"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 ...?

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

Try out this number trick. What happens with different starting numbers? What do you notice?

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

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

Make one big triangle so the numbers that touch on the small triangles add to 10.

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?

A task which depends on members of the group noticing the needs of others and responding.

Use these head, body and leg pieces to make Robot Monsters which are different heights.

Try grouping the dominoes in the ways described. Are there any left over each time? Can you explain why?

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

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

A task which depends on members of the group noticing the needs of others and responding.

There are three versions of this challenge. The idea is to change the colour of all the spots on the grid. Can you do it in fewer throws of the dice?

Choose four of the numbers from 1 to 9 to put in the squares so that the differences between joined squares are odd.

If you put three beads onto a tens/ones abacus you can make the numbers 3, 30, 12 or 21. What numbers can be made with six beads?

Annie and Ben are playing a game with a calculator. What was Annie's secret number?

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

Tom and Ben visited Numberland. Use the maps to work out the number of points each of their routes scores.

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

Use the lines on this figure to show how the square can be divided into 2 halves, 3 thirds, 6 sixths and 9 ninths.

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

Watch the video to see how to fold a square of paper to create a flower. What fraction of the piece of paper is the small triangle?

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

Watch this animation. What do you see? Can you explain why this happens?

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.

How many different shaped boxes can you design for 36 sweets in one layer? Can you arrange the sweets so that no sweets of the same colour are next to each other in any direction?

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

These sixteen children are standing in four lines of four, one behind the other. They are each holding a card with a number on it. Can you work out the missing numbers?

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

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

Nearly all of us have made table patterns on hundred squares, that is 10 by 10 grids. This problem looks at the patterns on differently sized square grids.

Which pairs of cogs let the coloured tooth touch every tooth on the other cog? Which pairs do not let this happen? Why?

What do the numbers shaded in blue on this hundred square have in common? What do you notice about the pink numbers? How about the shaded numbers in the other squares?

Can you use addition and subtraction to answer these questions about real-life distances?

On my calculator I divided one whole number by another whole number and got the answer 3.125. If the numbers are both under 50, what are they?

Roll two red dice and a green dice. Add the two numbers on the red dice and take away the number on the green. What are all the different possible answers?

There are three tables in a room with blocks of chocolate on each. Where would be the best place for each child in the class to sit if they came in one at a time?

Peter wanted to make two pies for a party. His mother had a recipe for him to use. However, she always made 80 pies at a time. Did Peter have enough ingredients to make two pumpkin pies?

The discs for this game are kept in a flat square box with a square hole for each. Use the information to find out how many discs of each colour there are in the box.

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?

Choose four different digits from 1-9 and put one in each box so that the resulting four two-digit numbers add to a total of 100.

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.

This multiplication uses each of the digits 0 - 9 once and once only. Using the information given, can you replace the stars in the calculation with figures?