In this calculation, the box represents a missing digit. What could the digit be? What would the solution be in each case?
These two group activities use mathematical reasoning - one is
numerical, one geometric.
Suppose there is a train with 24 carriages which are going to be
put together to make up some new trains. Can you find all the ways
that this can be done?
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?
Lolla bought a balloon at the circus. She gave the clown six coins
to pay for it. What could Lolla have paid for the balloon?
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of
rabbit there are in these pens?
How could you put eight beanbags in the hoops so that there are
four in the blue hoop, five in the red and six in the yellow? Can
you find all the ways of doing this?
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.
In how many ways could Mrs Beeswax put ten coins into her three
puddings so that each pudding ended up with at least two coins?
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!
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?
Can you put plus signs in so this is true? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 = 99
How many ways can you do it?
Use your logical-thinking skills to deduce how much Dan's crisps and ice-cream cost altogether.
Look carefully at the numbers. What do you notice? Can you make
another square using the numbers 1 to 16, that displays the same
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?
Ram divided 15 pennies among four small bags. He could then pay any sum of money from 1p to 15p without opening any bag. How many pennies did Ram put in each bag?
Take 5 cubes of one colour and 2 of another colour. How many
different ways can you join them if the 5 must touch the table and
the 2 must not touch the table?
Can you find the chosen number from the grid using the clues?
What do the digits in the number fifteen add up to? How many other
numbers have digits with the same total but no zeros?
There are 4 jugs which hold 9 litres, 7 litres, 4 litres and 2
litres. Find a way to pour 9 litres of drink from one jug to
another until you are left with exactly 3 litres in three of the
Can you put the numbers 1 to 8 into the circles so that the four
calculations are correct?
Choose four different digits from 1-9 and put one in each box so that the resulting four two-digit numbers add to a total of 100.
Imagine that the puzzle pieces of a jigsaw are roughly a
rectangular shape and all the same size. How many different puzzle
pieces could there be?
Kate has eight multilink cubes. She has two red ones, two yellow, two green and two blue. She wants to fit them together to make a cube so that each colour shows on each face just once.
When intergalactic Wag Worms are born they look just like a cube.
Each year they grow another cube in any direction. Find all the
shapes that five-year-old Wag Worms can be.
Can you substitute numbers for the letters in these sums?
Ben has five coins in his pocket. How much money might he have?
Add the sum of the squares of four numbers between 10 and 20 to the
sum of the squares of three numbers less than 6 to make the square
of another, larger, number.
An investigation involving adding and subtracting sets of consecutive numbers. Lots to find out, lots to explore.
Move from the START to the FINISH by moving across or down to the
next square. Can you find a route to make these totals?
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!
This challenge is to design different step arrangements, which must
go along a distance of 6 on the steps and must end up at 6 high.
This problem is based on a code using two different prime numbers
less than 10. You'll need to multiply them together and shift the
alphabet forwards by the result. Can you decipher the code?
Ten cards are put into five envelopes so that there are two cards in each envelope. The sum of the numbers inside it is written on each envelope. What numbers could be inside the envelopes?
Using the cards 2, 4, 6, 8, +, - and =, what number statements can
Arrange eight of the numbers between 1 and 9 in the Polo Square
below so that each side adds to the same total.
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.
How many models can you find which obey these rules?
My coat has three buttons. How many ways can you find to do up all
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?
Can you find which shapes you need to put into the grid to make the
totals at the end of each row and the bottom of each column?
Can you order the digits from 1-3 to make a number which is divisible by 3 so when the last digit is removed it becomes a 2-figure number divisible by 2, and so on?
Can you use the information to find out which cards I have used?
Have a go at this well-known challenge. Can you swap the frogs and toads in as few slides and jumps as possible?
Find the sum and difference between a pair of two-digit numbers. Now find the sum and difference between the sum and difference! What happens?
This dice train has been made using specific rules. How many different trains can you make?
This challenge focuses on finding the sum and difference of pairs of two-digit numbers.
This challenge is about finding the difference between numbers which have the same tens digit.
What happens when you add three numbers together? Will your answer be odd or even? How do you know?
Sweets are given out to party-goers in a particular way. Investigate the total number of sweets received by people sitting in different positions.