Working systematically

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?

Arrange 3 red, 3 blue and 3 yellow counters into a three-by-three square grid, so that there is only one of each colour in every row and every column

These are the faces of Will, Lil, Bill, Phil and Jill. Use the clues to work out which name goes with each face.

Explore the different snakes that can be made using 5 cubes.

If you put three beads onto a tens/ones abacus you can make the numbers 3, 30, 12 or 21. What numbers can be made with six beads?

Find all the numbers that can be made by adding the dots on two dice.

The Red Express Train usually has five red carriages. How many ways can you find to add two blue carriages?

Place six toy ladybirds into the box so that there are two ladybirds in every column and every row.

Ben has five coins in his pocket. How much money might he have?

Cut four triangles from a square as shown in the picture. How many different shapes can you make by fitting the four triangles back together?