Chandrika was practising a long distance run. Can you work out how long the race was from the information?
During the third hour after midnight the hands on a clock point in the same direction (so one hand is over the top of the other). At what time, to the nearest second, does this happen?
Twizzle, a female giraffe, needs transporting to another zoo. Which route will give the fastest journey?
This article for teachers suggests ideas for activities built around 10 and 2010.
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?
Use the information about Sally and her brother to find out how many children there are in the Brown family.
In this game, you can add, subtract, multiply or divide the numbers on the dice. Which will you do so that you get to the end of the number line first?
A game for 2 or more players with a pack of cards. Practise your skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to hit the target score.
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.
There are four equal weights on one side of the scale and an apple on the other side. What can you say that is true about the apple and the weights from the picture?
Use this information to work out whether the front or back wheel of this bicycle gets more wear and tear.
There were 22 legs creeping across the web. How many flies? How many spiders?
Grandma found her pie balanced on the scale with two weights and a quarter of a pie. So how heavy was each pie?
Can you see why 2 by 2 could be 5? Can you predict what 2 by 10 will be?
Mr. Sunshine tells the children they will have 2 hours of homework. After several calculations, Harry says he hasn't got time to do this homework. Can you see where his reasoning is wrong?
A game for 2 people. Use your skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to blast the asteroids.
Four Go game for an adult and child. Will you be the first to have four numbers in a row on the number line?
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?
Here is a chance to play a version of the classic Countdown Game.
Shut the Box game for an adult and child. Can you turn over the cards which match the numbers on the dice?
Work out Tom's number from the answers he gives his friend. He will only answer 'yes' or 'no'.
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?
It's Sahila's birthday and she is having a party. How could you answer these questions using a picture, with things, with numbers or symbols?
Resources to support understanding of multiplication and division through playing with number.
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?
Ahmed is making rods using different numbers of cubes. Which rod is twice the length of his first rod?
Where can you draw a line on a clock face so that the numbers on both sides have the same total?
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.
Can you each work out the number on your card? What do you notice? How could you sort the cards?
How would you find out how many football cards Catrina has collected?
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?
Number problems at primary level that require careful consideration.
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of rabbit there are in these pens?
This article for teachers describes how modelling number properties involving multiplication using an array of objects not only allows children to represent their thinking with concrete materials,. . . .
Play this game and see if you can figure out the computer's chosen number.
Use your logical-thinking skills to deduce how much Dan's crisps and ice-cream cost altogether.
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!
Use this grid to shade the numbers in the way described. Which numbers do you have left? Do you know what they are called?
The Scot, John Napier, invented these strips about 400 years ago to help calculate multiplication and division. Can you work out how to use Napier's bones to find the answer to these multiplications?
What is the lowest number which always leaves a remainder of 1 when divided by each of the numbers from 2 to 10?
What do you notice about the date 03.06.09? Or 08.01.09? This challenge invites you to investigate some interesting dates yourself.
Can you arrange 5 different digits (from 0 - 9) in the cross in the way described?
There are over sixty different ways of making 24 by adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing all four numbers 4, 6, 6 and 8 (using each number only once). How many can you find?
In the multiplication calculation, some of the digits have been replaced by letters and others by asterisks. Can you reconstruct the original multiplication?
56 406 is the product of two consecutive numbers. What are these two numbers?
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.
The clockmaker's wife cut up his birthday cake to look like a clock face. Can you work out who received each piece?