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For younger learners

  • Early Years Foundation Stage

2 Rings

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Primary curriculum
  • Problem
  • Getting Started
  • Student Solutions
  • Teachers' Resources

Two very special circles are on the floor:
2circles1
Very special because they can get bigger or smaller - as you like.
So you might like them to be like this:
changed
Maybe you like things small - so you would have:
change2
I'd like the blue one to grow:
Red-In-Blue
Whoa! That looks different.
The Red is inside the Blue.

So the Red and the Blue can grow - just as you like.

We've seen the Red INSIDE the Blue.
Can we change things so that we might use other words like:

TOUCHING?

OVERLAPPING?

OUTSIDE?

Have a go. Send us some pictures of what you do - we'd love to see them.

If you enjoyed this problem, you might like to try 3 Rings .

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What is the greatest number of squares you can make by overlapping three squares?

Two Dice

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

Biscuit Decorations

Andrew decorated 20 biscuits to take to a party. He lined them up and put icing on every second biscuit and different decorations on other biscuits. How many biscuits weren't decorated?

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The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.

NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.

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