This train line has two tracks which cross at different points. Can you find all the routes that end at Cheston?
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?
These activities lend themselves to systematic working in the sense that it helps if you have an ordered approach.
Can you create jigsaw pieces which are based on a square shape, with at least one peg and one hole?
Sitting around a table are three girls and three boys. Use the clues to work out were each person is sitting.
Make a pair of cubes that can be moved to show all the days of the month from the 1st to the 31st.
Seven friends went to a fun fair with lots of scary rides. They decided to pair up for rides until each friend had ridden once with each of the others. What was the total number rides?
What is the best way to shunt these carriages so that each train can continue its journey?
Can you shunt the trucks so that the Cattle truck and the Sheep truck change places and the Engine is back on the main line?
The Zargoes use almost the same alphabet as English. What does this birthday message say?
What is the smallest number of jumps needed before the white rabbits and the grey rabbits can continue along their path?
These activities focus on finding all possible solutions so if you work in a systematic way, you won't leave any out.
Use the information to describe these marbles. What colours must be on marbles that sparkle when rolling but are dark inside?
These activities focus on finding all possible solutions so working in a systematic way will ensure none are left out.
Can you find out in which order the children are standing in this line?
Chandra, Jane, Terry and Harry ordered their lunches from the sandwich shop. Use the information below to find out who ordered each sandwich.
You have 4 red and 5 blue counters. How many ways can they be placed on a 3 by 3 grid so that all the rows columns and diagonals have an even number of red counters?
My briefcase has a three-number combination lock, but I have forgotten the combination. I remember that there's a 3, a 5 and an 8. How many possible combinations are there to try?
Lorenzie was packing his bag for a school trip. He packed four shirts and three pairs of pants. "I will be able to have a different outfit each day", he said. How many days will Lorenzie be away?
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?
How will you go about finding all the jigsaw pieces that have one peg and one hole?
What is the smallest cuboid that you can put in this box so that you cannot fit another that's the same into it?
Use the clues to work out which cities Mohamed, Sheng, Tanya and Bharat live in.
How many different ways can you find of fitting five hexagons together? How will you know you have found all the ways?
These activities lend themselves to systematic working in the sense that it helps if you have an ordered approach.
10 space travellers are waiting to board their spaceships. There are two rows of seats in the waiting room. Using the rules, where are they all sitting? Can you find all the possible ways?
Swap the stars with the moons, using only knights' moves (as on a chess board). What is the smallest number of moves possible?
El Crico the cricket has to cross a square patio to get home. He can jump the length of one tile, two tiles and three tiles. Can you find a path that would get El Crico home in three jumps?
Nina must cook some pasta for 15 minutes but she only has a 7-minute sand-timer and an 11-minute sand-timer. How can she use these timers to measure exactly 15 minutes?
A merchant brings four bars of gold to a jeweller. How can the jeweller use the scales just twice to identify the lighter, fake bar?
How many DIFFERENT quadrilaterals can be made by joining the dots on the 8-point circle?
In the planet system of Octa the planets are arranged in the shape of an octahedron. How many different routes could be taken to get from Planet A to Planet Zargon?
My dice has inky marks on each face. Can you find the route it has taken? What does each face look like?
My coat has three buttons. How many ways can you find to do up all the buttons?
If you put three beads onto a tens/ones abacus you could make the numbers 3, 30, 12 or 21. What numbers can be made with six beads?
These are the faces of Will, Lil, Bill, Phil and Jill. Use the clues to work out which name goes with each face.
Moira is late for school. What is the shortest route she can take from the school gates to the entrance?
Start with three pairs of socks. Now mix them up so that no mismatched pair is the same as another mismatched pair. Is there more than one way to do it?
These activities focus on finding all possible solutions so working in a systematic way will ensure none are left out.
A tetromino is made up of four squares joined edge to edge. Can this tetromino, together with 15 copies of itself, be used to cover an eight by eight chessboard?
These activities lend themselves to systematic working in the sense that it helps to have an ordered approach.
These activities lend themselves to systematic working in the sense that it helps to have an ordered approach.
What happens when you try and fit the triomino pieces into these two grids?
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?
This task, written for the National Young Mathematicians' Award 2016, involves open-topped boxes made with interlocking cubes. Explore the number of units of paint that are needed to cover the boxes. . . .
Find your way through the grid starting at 2 and following these operations. What number do you end on?
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.
Investigate the different numbers of people and rats there could have been if you know how many legs there are altogether!
Two children made up a game as they walked along the garden paths. Can you find out their scores? Can you find some paths of your own?