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For younger learners

  • Early Years Foundation Stage

Saying What You See - Lower Primary

You and your friends are probably quite good at imagining things and seeing things in lots of different ways. Here you'll put that to use in doing some maths challenges.


Matching Triangles

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

Can you sort these triangles into three different families and explain how you did it?

Poly Plug Pattern

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

Create a pattern on the small grid. How could you extend your pattern on the larger grid?

Chairs and Tables

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

Make a chair and table out of interlocking cubes, making sure that the chair fits under the table!

Let's Investigate Triangles

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

Vincent and Tara are making triangles with the class construction set. They have a pile of strips of different lengths. How many different triangles can they make?

So It's 28

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

Here is your chance to investigate the number 28 using shapes, cubes ... in fact anything at all.

How Many Pieces?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

How many loops of string have been used to make these patterns?

Making Shapes

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Arrange any number of counters from these 18 on the grid to make a rectangle. What numbers of counters make rectangles? How many different rectangles can you make with each number of counters?

Caterpillars

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

These caterpillars have 16 parts. What different shapes do they make if each part lies in the small squares of a 4 by 4 square?

Building with Cubes

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Try to picture these buildings of cubes in your head. Can you make them to check whether you had imagined them correctly?

Start Cube Drilling

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow starYellow star

Imagine a 3 by 3 by 3 cube. If you and a friend drill holes in some of the small cubes in the ways described, how many will have holes drilled through them?

Happy Halving

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow starYellow star

Can you split each of the shapes below in half so that the two parts are exactly the same?

Sorting Logic Blocks

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star

This activity focuses on similarities and differences between shapes.

Poly Plug Rectangles

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star

The computer has made a rectangle and will tell you the number of spots it uses in total. Can you find out where the rectangle is?

Holes

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star

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?

Four Colours

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

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.

Hundred Square

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

A hundred square has been printed on both sides of a piece of paper. What is on the back of 100? 58? 23? 19?

Teddy Town

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

There are nine teddies in Teddy Town - three red, three blue and three yellow. There are also nine houses, three of each colour. Can you put them on the map of Teddy Town according to the rules?

Two on Five

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

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?

Square It

Age 11 to 16
Challenge Level Yellow star

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.

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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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