Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
Can you see how these factor-multiple chains work? Find the chain which contains the smallest possible numbers. How about the largest possible numbers?
Work out Tom's number from the answers he gives his friend. He will only answer 'yes' or 'no'.
What is the lowest number which always leaves a remainder of 1 when divided by each of the numbers from 2 to 10?
56 406 is the product of two consecutive numbers. What are these two numbers?
Norrie sees two lights flash at the same time, then one of them flashes every 4th second, and the other flashes every 5th second. How many times do they flash together during a whole minute?
This big box multiplies anything that goes inside it by the same number. If you know the numbers that come out, what multiplication might be going on in the box?
Can you work out what a ziffle is on the planet Zargon?
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?
Is it possible to draw a 5-pointed star without taking your pencil off the paper? Is it possible to draw a 6-pointed star in the same way without taking your pen off?
Which is quicker, counting up to 30 in ones or counting up to 300 in tens? Why?
Four of these clues are needed to find the chosen number on this grid and four are true but do nothing to help in finding the number. Can you sort out the clues and find the number?
Number problems at primary level that may require determination.
Got It game for an adult and child. How can you play so that you know you will always win?
48 is called an abundant number because it is less than the sum of its factors (without itself). Can you find some more abundant numbers?
If you have only four weights, where could you place them in order to balance this equaliser?
Becky created a number plumber which multiplies by 5 and subtracts 4. What do you notice about the numbers that it produces? Can you explain your findings?
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?
Look at three 'next door neighbours' amongst the counting numbers. Add them together. What do you notice?
Investigate the sum of the numbers on the top and bottom faces of a line of three dice. What do you notice?
Number problems at primary level to work on with others.
Can you fill in this table square? The numbers 2 -12 were used to generate it with just one number used twice.
This article for teachers describes how number arrays can be a useful reprentation for many number concepts.
A game for 2 people using a pack of cards Turn over 2 cards and try to make an odd number or a multiple of 3.
I throw three dice and get 5, 3 and 2. Add the scores on the three dice. What do you get? Now multiply the scores. What do you notice?
In this problem we are looking at sets of parallel sticks that cross each other. What is the least number of crossings you can make? And the greatest?
Starting with the number 180, take away 9 again and again, joining up the dots as you go. Watch out - don't join all the dots!
Can you complete this jigsaw of the multiplication square?
Ben’s class were cutting up number tracks. First they cut them into twos and added up the numbers on each piece. What patterns could they see?
Arrange the four number cards on the grid, according to the rules, to make a diagonal, vertical or horizontal line.
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?
Can you order the digits from 1-3 to make a number which is divisible by 3 so when the last digit is removed it becomes a 2-figure number divisible by 2, and so on?
I am thinking of three sets of numbers less than 101. They are the red set, the green set and the blue set. Can you find all the numbers in the sets from these clues?
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?
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.
Choose any 3 digits and make a 6 digit number by repeating the 3 digits in the same order (e.g. 594594). Explain why whatever digits you choose the number will always be divisible by 7, 11 and 13.
The planet of Vuvv has seven moons. Can you work out how long it is between each super-eclipse?
Factor track is not a race but a game of skill. The idea is to go round the track in as few moves as possible, keeping to the rules.
There is a clock-face where the numbers have become all mixed up. Can you find out where all the numbers have got to from these ten statements?
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.
I am thinking of three sets of numbers less than 101. Can you find all the numbers in each set from these clues?
Does a graph of the triangular numbers cross a graph of the six times table? If so, where? Will a graph of the square numbers cross the times table too?
The sum of the first 'n' natural numbers is a 3 digit number in which all the digits are the same. How many numbers have been summed?
I'm thinking of a number. When my number is divided by 5 the remainder is 4. When my number is divided by 3 the remainder is 2. Can you find my number?
The number 8888...88M9999...99 is divisible by 7 and it starts with the digit 8 repeated 50 times and ends with the digit 9 repeated 50 times. What is the value of the digit M?
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?
Follow the clues to find the mystery number.
How can you use just one weighing to find out which box contains the lighter ten coins out of the ten boxes?
A game for 2 or more people. Starting with 100, subratct a number from 1 to 9 from the total. You score for making an odd number, a number ending in 0 or a multiple of 6.
Given the products of adjacent cells, can you complete this Sudoku?
Find the words hidden inside each of the circles by counting around a certain number of spaces to find each letter in turn.