Other tags that relate to Making Shapes
Odd and even numbers. Counters. Visualising. Interactivities. 2D shapes and their properties. Working systematically. Practical Activity. Addition & subtraction. Factors and multiples. Games.There are 155 results
Broad Topics > Mathematical Thinking > Practical Activity
Seven Flipped
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Investigate the smallest number of moves it takes to turn these mats upside-down if you can only turn exactly three at a time.
Making Sticks
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Kimie and Sebastian were making sticks from interlocking cubes and lining them up. Can they make their lines the same length? Can they make any other lines?
Shaping Up
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Are all the possible combinations of two shapes included in this set of 27 cards? How do you know?
Counting Counters
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Take a counter and surround it by a ring of other counters that MUST touch two others. How many are needed?
Making Maths: Double-sided Magic Square
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
Make your own double-sided magic square. But can you complete both sides once you've made the pieces?
Making Maths: Happy Families
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
Here is a version of the game 'Happy Families' for you to make and play.
Making Maths: Snake Pits
Age 5 to 14 Challenge Level:
A game to make and play based on the number line.
Pairs of Numbers
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
If you have ten counters numbered 1 to 10, how many can you put into pairs that add to 10? Which ones do you have to leave out? Why?
Building Patterns
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Can you deduce the pattern that has been used to lay out these bottle tops?
Putting Two and Two Together
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
In how many ways can you fit two of these yellow triangles together? Can you predict the number of ways two blue triangles can be fitted together?
Dienes' Logiblocs
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
This problem focuses on Dienes' Logiblocs. What is the same and what is different about these pairs of shapes? Can you describe the shapes in the picture?
Factors and Multiples Game
Age 7 to 16 Challenge Level:
A game in which players take it in turns to choose a number. Can you block your opponent?
Map Folding
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Take a rectangle of paper and fold it in half, and half again, to make four smaller rectangles. How many different ways can you fold it up?
Creating Cubes
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Arrange 9 red cubes, 9 blue cubes and 9 yellow cubes into a large 3 by 3 cube. No row or column of cubes must contain two cubes of the same colour.
Making Maths: Birds from an Egg
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Can you make the birds from the egg tangram?
Cover the Tray
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
These practical challenges are all about making a 'tray' and covering it with paper.
Factors and Multiples Game for Two
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
Factors and Multiples game for an adult and child. How can you make sure you win this game?
Cuisenaire Squares
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
These squares have been made from Cuisenaire rods. Can you describe the pattern? What would the next square look like?
Square Corners
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
What is the greatest number of counters you can place on the grid below without four of them lying at the corners of a square?
A City of Towers
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
In this town, houses are built with one room for each person. There are some families of seven people living in the town. In how many different ways can they build their houses?
Egyptian Rope
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
The ancient Egyptians were said to make right-angled triangles using a rope with twelve equal sections divided by knots. What other triangles could you make if you had a rope like this?
Four Colours
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
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.
Two on Five
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
Take 5 cubes of one colour and 2 of another colour. How many different ways can you join them if the 5 must touch the table and the 2 must not touch the table?
Dice Stairs
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Can you make dice stairs using the rules stated? How do you know you have all the possible stairs?
Regular Rings 2
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
What shape is made when you fold using this crease pattern? Can you make a ring design?
Hexagon Transformations
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Can you cut a regular hexagon into two pieces to make a parallelogram? Try cutting it into three pieces to make a rhombus!
Cereal Packets
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
How can you put five cereal packets together to make different shapes if you must put them face-to-face?
Making Cuboids
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Let's say you can only use two different lengths - 2 units and 4 units. Using just these 2 lengths as the edges how many different cuboids can you make?
Sticks and Triangles
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Using different numbers of sticks, how many different triangles are you able to make? Can you make any rules about the numbers of sticks that make the most triangles?
It's a Tie
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Kaia is sure that her father has worn a particular tie twice a week in at least five of the last ten weeks, but her father disagrees. Who do you think is right?
Tricky Triangles
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Use the three triangles to fill these outline shapes. Perhaps you can create some of your own shapes for a friend to fill?
Sea Defences
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
These are pictures of the sea defences at New Brighton. Can you work out what a basic shape might be in both images of the sea wall and work out a way they might fit together?
Tangram Pictures
Age 5 to 14 Challenge Level:
Use the tangram pieces to make our pictures, or to design some of your own!
Two-digit Targets
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
You have a set of the digits from 0 – 9. Can you arrange these in the five boxes to make two-digit numbers as close to the targets as possible?
Two by One
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
An activity making various patterns with 2 x 1 rectangular tiles.
Shapely Lines
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
This challenge invites you to create your own picture using just straight lines. Can you identify shapes with the same number of sides and decorate them in the same way?
Counter Ideas
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Here are some ideas to try in the classroom for using counters to investigate number patterns.
Music to My Ears
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Can you predict when you'll be clapping and when you'll be clicking if you start this rhythm? How about when a friend begins a new rhythm at the same time?
Three Fingers and a Loop of String
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Using a loop of string stretched around three of your fingers, what different triangles can you make? Draw them and sort them into groups.
Three Sets of Cubes, Two Surfaces
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
How many models can you find which obey these rules?
Order the Changes
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Can you order pictures of the development of a frog from frogspawn and of a bean seed growing into a plant?
Tessellating Capitals
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Have you ever tried tessellating capital letters? Have a look at these examples and then try some for yourself.
Cuboid-in-a-box
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
What is the smallest cuboid that you can put in this box so that you cannot fit another that's the same into it?
Sports Equipment
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
If these balls are put on a line with each ball touching the one in front and the one behind, which arrangement makes the shortest line of balls?
Square Tangram
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
This was a problem for our birthday website. Can you use four of these pieces to form a square? How about making a square with all five pieces?
Tangram Tangle
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
If you split the square into these two pieces, it is possible to fit the pieces together again to make a new shape. How many new shapes can you make?
Three Squares
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
What is the greatest number of squares you can make by overlapping three squares?
Clapping Times
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
If you count from 1 to 20 and clap more loudly on the numbers in the two times table, as well as saying those numbers loudly, which numbers will be loud?
Sponge Sections
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
You have been given three shapes made out of sponge: a sphere, a cylinder and a cone. Your challenge is to find out how to cut them to make different shapes for printing.
Fractional Triangles
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Use the lines on this figure to show how the square can be divided into 2 halves, 3 thirds, 6 sixths and 9 ninths.
NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.