Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
Ben has five coins in his pocket. How much money might he have?
Ram divided 15 pennies among four small bags. He could then pay any sum of money from 1p to 15p without opening any bag. How many pennies did Ram put in each bag?
Use your logical-thinking skills to deduce how much Dan's crisps and ice-cream cost altogether.
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?
What is the smallest number of coins needed to make up 12 dollars and 83 cents?
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?
Exactly 195 digits have been used to number the pages in a book. How many pages does the book have?
My cube has inky marks on each face. Can you find the route it has taken? What does each face look like?
Suppose we allow ourselves to use three numbers less than 10 and multiply them together. How many different products can you find? How do you know you've got them all?
Add the sum of the squares of four numbers between 10 and 20 to the sum of the squares of three numbers less than 6 to make the square of another, larger, number.
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.
A group of children are using measuring cylinders but they lose the labels. Can you help relabel them?
This problem is based on a code using two different prime numbers less than 10. You'll need to multiply them together and shift the alphabet forwards by the result. Can you decipher the code?
Have a go at this well-known challenge. Can you swap the frogs and toads in as few slides and jumps as possible?
Can you substitute numbers for the letters in these sums?
Ten cards are put into five envelopes so that there are two cards in each envelope. The sum of the numbers inside it is written on each envelope. What numbers could be inside the envelopes?
Can you use the information to find out which cards I have used?
Tim had nine cards each with a different number from 1 to 9 on it. How could he have put them into three piles so that the total in each pile was 15?
Can you use this information to work out Charlie's house number?
Can you find which shapes you need to put into the grid to make the totals at the end of each row and the bottom of each column?
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?
Place the numbers 1 to 10 in the circles so that each number is the difference between the two numbers just below it.
You have two egg timers. One takes 4 minutes exactly to empty and the other takes 7 minutes. What times in whole minutes can you measure and how?
These two group activities use mathematical reasoning - one is numerical, one geometric.
This task follows on from Build it Up and takes the ideas into three dimensions!
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?
Can you put the numbers 1 to 8 into the circles so that the four calculations are correct?
What do the digits in the number fifteen add up to? How many other numbers have digits with the same total but no zeros?
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.
What do you notice about the date 03.06.09? Or 08.01.09? This challenge invites you to investigate some interesting dates yourself.
Find the product of the numbers on the routes from A to B. Which route has the smallest product? Which the largest?
Arrange eight of the numbers between 1 and 9 in the Polo Square below so that each side adds to the same total.
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of rabbit there are in these pens?
This magic square has operations written in it, to make it into a maze. Start wherever you like, go through every cell and go out a total of 15!
Can you put plus signs in so this is true? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 = 99 How many ways can you do it?
This problem is based on the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Investigate the different numbers of people and rats there could have been if you know how many legs there are altogether!
Place six toy ladybirds into the box so that there are two ladybirds in every column and every row.
There are 4 jugs which hold 9 litres, 7 litres, 4 litres and 2 litres. Find a way to pour 9 litres of drink from one jug to another until you are left with exactly 3 litres in three of the jugs.
Three children are going to buy some plants for their birthdays. They will plant them within circular paths. How could they do this?
This dice train has been made using specific rules. How many different trains can you make?
Find the sum and difference between a pair of two-digit numbers. Now find the sum and difference between the sum and difference! What happens?
Suppose there is a train with 24 carriages which are going to be put together to make up some new trains. Can you find all the ways that this can be done?
George and Jim want to buy a chocolate bar. George needs 2p more and Jim need 50p more to buy it. How much is the chocolate bar?
This challenge focuses on finding the sum and difference of pairs of two-digit numbers.
How could you put eight beanbags in the hoops so that there are four in the blue hoop, five in the red and six in the yellow? Can you find all the ways of doing this?
Look carefully at the numbers. What do you notice? Can you make another square using the numbers 1 to 16, that displays the same properties?
Zumf makes spectacles for the residents of the planet Zargon, who have either 3 eyes or 4 eyes. How many lenses will Zumf need to make all the different orders for 9 families?
Winifred Wytsh bought a box each of jelly babies, milk jelly bears, yellow jelly bees and jelly belly beans. In how many different ways could she make a jolly jelly feast with 32 legs?
Can you fill in this table square? The numbers 2 -12 were used to generate it with just one number used twice.
Sweets are given out to party-goers in a particular way. Investigate the total number of sweets received by people sitting in different positions.