Put a number at the top of the machine and collect a number at the bottom. What do you get? Which numbers get back to themselves?
Can you score 100 by throwing rings on this board? Is there more than way to do it?
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?
Cassandra, David and Lachlan are brothers and sisters. They range in age between 1 year and 14 years. Can you figure out their exact ages from the clues?
Well now, what would happen if we lost all the nines in our number system? Have a go at writing the numbers out in this way and have a look at the multiplications table.
The clockmaker's wife cut up his birthday cake to look like a clock face. Can you work out who received each piece?
Arrange three 1s, three 2s and three 3s in this square so that every row, column and diagonal adds to the same total.
Annie cut this numbered cake into 3 pieces with 3 cuts so that the numbers on each piece added to the same total. Where were the cuts and what fraction of the whole cake was each piece?
Find out what a Deca Tree is and then work out how many leaves there will be after the woodcutter has cut off a trunk, a branch, a twig and a leaf.
This magic square has operations written in it, to make it into a maze. Start wherever you like, go through every cell and go out a total of 15!
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?
On the table there is a pile of oranges and lemons that weighs exactly one kilogram. Using the information, can you work out how many lemons there are?
Rocco ran in a 200 m race for his class. Use the information to find out how many runners there were in the race and what Rocco's finishing position was.
Try adding together the dates of all the days in one week. Now multiply the first date by 7 and add 21. Can you explain what happens?
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?
There are three buckets each of which holds a maximum of 5 litres. Use the clues to work out how much liquid there is in each bucket.
Fill in the missing numbers so that adding each pair of corner numbers gives you the number between them (in the box).
On a calculator, make 15 by using only the 2 key and any of the four operations keys. How many ways can you find to do it?
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.
Peter, Melanie, Amil and Jack received a total of 38 chocolate eggs. Use the information to work out how many eggs each person had.
Can you substitute numbers for the letters in these sums?
Try out this number trick. What happens with different starting numbers? What do you notice?
Use the information to work out how many gifts there are in each pile.
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of rabbit there are in these pens?
Watch this animation. What do you notice? What happens when you try more or fewer cubes in a bundle?
Investigate the different distances of these car journeys and find out how long they take.
This group activity will encourage you to share calculation strategies and to think about which strategy might be the most efficient.
What do the digits in the number fifteen add up to? How many other numbers have digits with the same total but no zeros?
Find the next number in this pattern: 3, 7, 19, 55 ...
What do you notice about the date 03.06.09? Or 08.01.09? This challenge invites you to investigate some interesting dates yourself.
Number problems at primary level that require careful consideration.
A group of children are using measuring cylinders but they lose the labels. Can you help relabel them?
Where can you draw a line on a clock face so that the numbers on both sides have the same total?
If the numbers 5, 7 and 4 go into this function machine, what numbers will come out?
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?
Can you draw a continuous line through 16 numbers on this grid so that the total of the numbers you pass through is as high as possible?
I was looking at the number plate of a car parked outside. Using my special code S208VBJ adds to 65. Can you crack my code and use it to find out what both of these number plates add up to?
Use your logical-thinking skills to deduce how much Dan's crisps and ice-cream cost altogether.
Here are the prices for 1st and 2nd class mail within the UK. You have an unlimited number of each of these stamps. Which stamps would you need to post a parcel weighing 825g?
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?
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!
Susie took cherries out of a bowl by following a certain pattern. How many cherries had there been in the bowl to start with if she was left with 14 single ones?
Place the digits 1 to 9 into the circles so that each side of the triangle adds to the same total.
Find the sum of all three-digit numbers each of whose digits is odd.
In a Magic Square all the rows, columns and diagonals add to the 'Magic Constant'. How would you change the magic constant of this square?
In this problem you have to place four by four magic squares on the faces of a cube so that along each edge of the cube the numbers match.
This challenge asks you to investigate the total number of cards that would be sent if four children send one to all three others. How many would be sent if there were five children? Six?
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?