Young children are often good at imagining - in these tasks we ask them to use their imaginations in a mathematical way.
This collection is one of our Primary Curriculum collections - tasks that are grouped by topic.
Holes
I've made some cubes and some cubes with holes in. This challenge invites you to explore the difference in the number of small cubes I've used. Can you see any patterns?
How would we count?
An activity centred around observations of dots and how we visualise number arrangement patterns.
Seeing Squares
Players take it in turns to choose a dot on the grid. The winner is the first to have four dots that can be joined to form a square.
How Many?
Hundred Square
A hundred square has been printed on both sides of a piece of paper. What is on the back of 100? 58? 23? 19?
Nine-Pin Triangles
How many different triangles can you make on a circular pegboard that has nine pegs?
Brush Loads
How can you arrange the 5 cubes so that you need the smallest number of Brush Loads of paint to cover them? Try with other numbers of cubes as well.
Twice as Big?
Investigate how the four L-shapes fit together to make an enlarged L-shape. You could explore this idea with other shapes too.
Snake Coils
Tumbling Down
Watch this animation. What do you see? Can you explain why this happens?
A Puzzling Cube
Here are the six faces of a cube - in no particular order. Here are three views of the cube. Can you deduce where the faces are in relation to each other and record them on the net of this cube?
Square Corners
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?
Odd Squares
Think of a number, square it and subtract your starting number. Is the number you're left with odd or even? How do the images help to explain this?
Stringy Quads
This practical problem challenges you to make quadrilaterals with a loop of string. You'll need some friends to help!
Overlapping Again
Eight hidden squares
Baravelle
What can you see? What do you notice? What questions can you ask?
Arranging cubes
A task which depends on members of the group working collaboratively to reach a single goal.
Regular Rings 1
Sponge Sections
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.
Cut Nets
Each of the nets of nine solid shapes has been cut into two pieces. Can you see which pieces go together?
Cubes within Cubes
We start with one yellow cube and build around it to make a 3x3x3 cube with red cubes. Then we build around that red cube with blue cubes and so on. How many cubes of each colour have we used?