Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
The discs for this game are kept in a flat square box with a square hole for each disc. Use the information to find out how many discs of each colour there are in the box.
Find another number that is one short of a square number and when you double it and add 1, the result is also a square number.
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?
There are 44 people coming to a dinner party. There are 15 square tables that seat 4 people. Find a way to seat the 44 people using all 15 tables, with no empty places.
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of rabbit there are in these pens?
There are 78 prisoners in a square cell block of twelve cells. The clever prison warder arranged them so there were 25 along each wall of the prison block. How did he do it?
There were chews for 2p, mini eggs for 3p, Chocko bars for 5p and lollypops for 7p in the sweet shop. What could each of the children buy with their money?
Fill in the numbers to make the sum of each row, column and diagonal equal to 34. For an extra challenge try the huge American Flag magic square.
Put the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 into the squares so that the numbers on each circle add up to the same amount. Can you find the rule for giving another set of six numbers?
Put operations signs between the numbers 3 4 5 6 to make the highest possible number and lowest possible number.
Your challenge is to find the longest way through the network following this rule. You can start and finish anywhere, and with any shape, as long as you follow the correct order.
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.
Mrs Morgan, the class's teacher, pinned numbers onto the backs of three children. Use the information to find out what the three numbers were.
There are three buckets each of which holds a maximum of 5 litres. Use the clues to work out how much liquid there is in each bucket.
On the table there is a pile of oranges and lemons that weighs exactly one kilogram. Using the information, can you work out how many lemons there are?
Can you use the information to find out which cards I have used?
Have a go at this well-known challenge. Can you swap the frogs and toads in as few slides and jumps as possible?
Skippy and Anna are locked in a room in a large castle. The key to that room, and all the other rooms, is a number. The numbers are locked away in a problem. Can you help them to get out?
What can you say about these shapes? This problem challenges you to create shapes with different areas and perimeters.
Fill in the missing numbers so that adding each pair of corner numbers gives you the number between them (in the box).
Can you make dice stairs using the rules stated? How do you know you have all the possible stairs?
Use the information to work out how many gifts there are in each pile.
Place the digits 1 to 9 into the circles so that each side of the triangle adds to the same total.
Find out why these matrices are magic. Can you work out how they were made? Can you make your own Magic Matrix?
Place the numbers 1 to 10 in the circles so that each number is the difference between the two numbers just below it.
Peter, Melanie, Amil and Jack received a total of 38 chocolate eggs. Use the information to work out how many eggs each person had.
Find at least one way to put in some operation signs (+ - x ÷) to make these digits come to 100.
On the planet Vuv there are two sorts of creatures. The Zios have 3 legs and the Zepts have 7 legs. The great planetary explorer Nico counted 52 legs. How many Zios and how many Zepts were there?
The clockmaker's wife cut up his birthday cake to look like a clock face. Can you work out who received each piece?
Rocco ran in a 200 m race for his class. Use the information to find out how many runners there were in the race and what Rocco's finishing position was.
This 100 square jigsaw is written in code. It starts with 1 and ends with 100. Can you build it up?
Can you draw a continuous line through 16 numbers on this grid so that the total of the numbers you pass through is as high as possible?
In this problem you have to place four by four magic squares on the faces of a cube so that along each edge of the cube the numbers match.
Using the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 once and only once, and the operations x and ÷ once and only once, what is the smallest whole number you can make?
Strike it Out game for an adult and child. Can you stop your partner from being able to go?
I was looking at the number plate of a car parked outside. Using my special code S208VBJ adds to 65. Can you crack my code and use it to find out what both of these number plates add up to?
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.
Nine squares with side lengths 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, and 18 cm can be fitted together to form a rectangle. What are the dimensions of the rectangle?
All the girls would like a puzzle each for Christmas and all the boys would like a book each. Solve the riddle to find out how many puzzles and books Santa left.
Cassandra, David and Lachlan are brothers and sisters. They range in age between 1 year and 14 years. Can you figure out their exact ages from the clues?
There are a number of coins on a table. One quarter of the coins show heads. If I turn over 2 coins, then one third show heads. How many coins are there altogether?
Can you make a cycle of pairs that add to make a square number using all the numbers in the box below, once and once only?
Amy's mum had given her £2.50 to spend. She bought four times as many pens as pencils and was given 40p change. How many of each did she buy?
Mr McGregor has a magic potting shed. Overnight, the number of plants in it doubles. He'd like to put the same number of plants in each of three gardens, planting one garden each day. Can he do it?
In 1871 a mathematician called Augustus De Morgan died. De Morgan made a puzzling statement about his age. Can you discover which year De Morgan was born in?
Use your addition and subtraction skills, combined with some strategic thinking, to beat your partner at this game.
56 406 is the product of two consecutive numbers. What are these two numbers?
Sam sets up displays of cat food in his shop in triangular stacks. If Felix buys some, then how can Sam arrange the remaining cans in triangular stacks?
A dog is looking for a good place to bury his bone. Can you work out where he started and ended in each case? What possible routes could he have taken?
Start by putting one million (1 000 000) into the display of your calculator. Can you reduce this to 7 using just the 7 key and add, subtract, multiply, divide and equals as many times as you like?