There are 84 NRICH Mathematical resources connected to Counting, you may find related items under Numbers and the Number System.
Broad Topics > Numbers and the Number System > Counting
Eightness of Eight
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
What do you see as you watch this video? Can you create a similar video for the number 12?
Count the Crayons
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
How could you estimate the number of pencils/pens in these pictures?
Five Steps to 50
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Use five steps to count forwards or backwards in 1s or 10s to get to 50. What strategies did you use?
Incey Wincey Spider
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
You'll need two dice to play this game against a partner. Will Incey Wincey make it to the top of the drain pipe or the bottom of the drain pipe first?
Snail One Hundred
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
This is a game in which your counters move in a spiral round the snail's shell. It is about understanding tens and units.
How Would We Count?
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
An activity centred around observations of dots and how we visualise number arrangement patterns.
All Change
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
There are three versions of this challenge. The idea is to change the colour of all the spots on the grid. Can you do it in fewer throws of the dice?
Jumping Squares
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
In this problem it is not the squares that jump, you do the jumping! The idea is to go round the track in as few jumps as possible.
Dotty Six
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
Dotty Six is a simple dice game that you can adapt in many ways.
Count the Digits
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
In this investigation we are going to count the number of 1s, 2s, 3s etc in numbers. Can you predict what will happen?
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?
Sitting Round the Party Tables
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
Sweets are given out to party-goers in a particular way. Investigate the total number of sweets received by people sitting in different positions.
How Odd
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
This problem challenges you to find out how many odd numbers there are between pairs of numbers. Can you find a pair of numbers that has four odds between them?
Ip Dip
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
"Ip dip sky blue! Who's 'it'? It's you!" Where would you position yourself so that you are 'it' if there are two players? Three players ...?
Sort Them Out (1)
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Can you each work out the number on your card? What do you notice? How could you sort the cards?
Tug Harder!
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
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?
Tug of War
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Can you use the numbers on the dice to reach your end of the number line before your partner beats you?
Swimming Pool
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
In this problem, we're investigating the number of steps we would climb up or down to get out of or into the swimming pool. How could you number the steps below the water?
Picture a Pyramid ...
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Imagine a pyramid which is built in square layers of small cubes. If we number the cubes from the top, starting with 1, can you picture which cubes are directly below this first cube?
Cunning Card Trick
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Delight your friends with this cunning trick! Can you explain how it works?
Diagonal Sums Sudoku
Age 7 to 16 Challenge Level:
Solve this Sudoku puzzle whose clues are in the form of sums of the numbers which should appear in diagonal opposite cells.
Ladybird Count
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Some children were playing a game. Make a graph or picture to show how many ladybirds each child had.
Counting Cards
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
A magician took a suit of thirteen cards and held them in his hand face down. Every card he revealed had the same value as the one he had just finished spelling. How did this work?
Which Is Quicker?
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Which is quicker, counting up to 30 in ones or counting up to 300 in tens? Why?
Nim-7
Age 5 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you work out how to win this game of Nim? Does it matter if you go first or second?
Neighbours
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
In a square in which the houses are evenly spaced, numbers 3 and 10 are opposite each other. What is the smallest and what is the largest possible number of houses in the square?
Birthday Cakes
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Jack's mum bought some candles to use on his birthday cakes and when his sister was born, she used them on her cakes too. Can you use the information to find out when Kate was born?
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?
A Bowl of Fruit
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Can you work out how many apples there are in this fruit bowl if you know what fraction there are?
Buzzy Bee
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Buzzy Bee was building a honeycomb. She decorated the honeycomb with a pattern using numbers. Can you discover Buzzy's pattern and fill in the empty cells for her?
Writing Digits
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Lee was writing all the counting numbers from 1 to 20. She stopped for a rest after writing seventeen digits. What was the last number she wrote?
Noah
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Noah saw 12 legs walk by into the Ark. How many creatures did he see?
How Many?
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
Have a look at these photos of different fruit. How many do you see? How did you count?
Unexpected Ordering
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Watch the video of Fran re-ordering these number cards. What do you notice? Try it for yourself. What happens?
Truth or Lie
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Take a look at the video of this trick. Can you perform it yourself? Why is this maths and not magic?
Birthday Cake Candles
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
This challenge involves calculating the number of candles needed on birthday cakes. It is an opportunity to explore numbers and discover new things.
Dotty Six for Two
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
Dotty Six game for an adult and child. Will you be the first to have three sixes in a straight line?
Incey Wincey Spider for Two
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Incey Wincey Spider game for an adult and child. Will Incey get to the top of the drainpipe?
Nim-7 for Two
Age 5 to 14 Challenge Level:
Nim-7 game for an adult and child. Who will be the one to take the last counter?
Pairs of Legs
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
How many legs do each of these creatures have? How many pairs is that?
Cube Bricks and Daisy Chains
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Daisy and Akram were making number patterns. Daisy was using beads that looked like flowers and Akram was using cube bricks. First they were counting in twos.
Fingers and Hands
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
How would you count the number of fingers in these pictures?
Alien Counting
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Investigate the different ways these aliens count in this challenge. You could start by thinking about how each of them would write our number 7.
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.
