Find out about Magic Squares in this article written for students. Why are they magic?!
In sheep talk the only letters used are B and A. A sequence of
words is formed by following certain rules. What do you notice when
you count the letters in each word?
For this challenge, you'll need to play Got It! Can you explain the strategy for winning this game with any target?
How can we help students make sense of addition and subtraction of negative numbers?
Four bags contain a large number of 1s, 3s, 5s and 7s. Pick any ten
numbers from the bags above so that their total is 37.
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 put the numbers 1-5 in the V shape so that both 'arms' have the same total?
If each of these three shapes has a value, can you find the totals
of the combinations? Perhaps you can use the shapes to make the
Place the numbers from 1 to 9 in the squares below so that the difference between joined squares is odd. How many different ways can you do this?
Sweets are given out to party-goers in a particular way. Investigate the total number of sweets received by people sitting in different positions.
Using 3 rods of integer lengths, none longer than 10 units and not
using any rod more than once, you can measure all the lengths in
whole units from 1 to 10 units. How many ways can you do this?
Use your logical reasoning to work out how many cows and how many
sheep there are in each field.
The idea of this game is to add or subtract the two numbers on the dice and cover the result on the grid, trying to get a line of three. Are there some numbers that are good to aim for?
Find the sum of all three-digit numbers each of whose digits is
Here is a chance to play a version of the classic Countdown Game.
Can you see why 2 by 2 could be 5? Can you predict what 2 by 10
Put the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 into the squares so that the
numbers on each circle add up to the same amount. Can you find the
rule for giving another set of six numbers?
First Connect Three game for an adult and child. Use the dice numbers and either addition or subtraction to get three numbers in a straight line.
What happens when you add three numbers together? Will your answer be odd or even? How do you know?
Find a great variety of ways of asking questions which make 8.
Some Games That May Be Nice or Nasty for an adult and child. Use your knowledge of place value to beat your oponent.
This task combines spatial awareness with addition and multiplication.
This article gives you a few ideas for understanding the Got It! game and how you might find a winning strategy.
This challenge focuses on finding the sum and difference of pairs of two-digit numbers.
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?
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
This is an adding game for two players.
This challenge is about finding the difference between numbers which have the same tens digit.
Where can you draw a line on a clock face so that the numbers on
both sides have the same total?
Use your logical-thinking skills to deduce how much Dan's crisps and ice-cream cost altogether.
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
A lady has a steel rod and a wooden pole and she knows the length
of each. How can she measure out an 8 unit piece of pole?
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?
Mrs Morgan, the class's teacher, pinned numbers onto the backs of
three children. Use the information to find out what the three
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?
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.
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 are three baskets, a brown one, a red one and a pink one, holding a total of 10 eggs. Can you use the information given to find out how many eggs are in each basket?
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?
These two group activities use mathematical reasoning - one is
numerical, one geometric.
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!
What is happening at each box in these machines?
Can you score 100 by throwing rings on this board? Is there more
than way to do it?
Can you substitute numbers for the letters in these sums?
Can you work out how many flowers there will be on the Amazing Splitting Plant after it has been growing for six weeks?
Sam got into an elevator. He went down five floors, up six floors, down seven floors, then got out on the second floor. On what floor did he get on?
The value of the circle changes in each of the following problems.
Can you discover its value in each problem?
Katie had a pack of 20 cards numbered from 1 to 20. She arranged
the cards into 6 unequal piles where each pile added to the same
total. What was the total and how could this be done?
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?
Write the numbers up to 64 in an interesting way so that the shape they make at the end is interesting, different, more exciting ... than just a square.