Skip over navigation
Cambridge University Faculty of Mathematics NRich logo
menu search
  • Teachers expand_more
    • Early years
    • Primary
    • Secondary
    • Post-16
    • Events
    • Professional development
  • Students expand_more
    • Primary
    • Secondary
    • Post-16
  • Parents expand_more
    • Early Years
    • Primary
    • Secondary
    • Post-16
  • Problem-Solving Schools
  • About NRICH expand_more
    • About us
    • Impact stories
    • Support us
    • Our funders
    • Contact us
  • search

Or search by topic

Number and algebra

  • The Number System and Place Value
  • Calculations and Numerical Methods
  • Fractions, Decimals, Percentages, Ratio and Proportion
  • Properties of Numbers
  • Patterns, Sequences and Structure
  • Algebraic expressions, equations and formulae
  • Coordinates, Functions and Graphs

Geometry and measure

  • Angles, Polygons, and Geometrical Proof
  • 3D Geometry, Shape and Space
  • Measuring and calculating with units
  • Transformations and constructions
  • Pythagoras and Trigonometry
  • Vectors and Matrices

Probability and statistics

  • Handling, Processing and Representing Data
  • Probability

Working mathematically

  • Thinking mathematically
  • Developing positive attitudes
  • Cross-curricular contexts

Advanced mathematics

  • Decision Mathematics and Combinatorics
  • Advanced Probability and Statistics
  • Mechanics
  • Calculus

For younger learners

  • Early Years Foundation Stage
NRICH topics: Place value and the number system Counting

Resources tagged with: Counting

Content type:
Age range:
Challenge level:

There are 94 NRICH Mathematical resources connected to Counting, you may find related items under Place value and the number system.

Broad Topics > Place value and the number system > Counting

Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

How Many?

Have a look at these photos of different fruit. How many do you see? How did you count?

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Eightness of Eight

What do you see as you watch this video? Can you create a similar video for the number 12?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Count the Crayons

How could you estimate the number of pencils/pens in these pictures?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Five Steps to 50

Use five steps to count forwards or backwards in 1s or 10s to get to 50. What strategies did you use?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Incey Wincey Spider

You'll need two dice to play this game against a partner. Will Incey Wincey make it to the top of the drain pipe or the bottom of the drain pipe first?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Game Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Snail One Hundred

In this game, you throw a dice and move counters along the snail's body and in a spiral around the snail's shell. It is about understanding tens and ones.

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

How Would We Count?

An activity centred around observations of dots and how we visualise number arrangement patterns.

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

All Change

There are three versions of this challenge. The idea is to change the colour of all the spots on the grid. Can you do it in fewer throws of the dice?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Jumping Squares

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.

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Dotty Six

Dotty Six is a simple dice game that you can adapt in many ways.

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Count the Digits

In this investigation we are going to count the number of 1s, 2s, 3s etc in numbers. Can you predict what will happen?

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Pairs of Numbers

If you have ten counters numbered 1 to 10, how many can you put into pairs that add to 10? Which ones do you have to leave out? Why?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Sitting Round the Party Tables

Sweets are given out to party-goers in a particular way. Investigate the total number of sweets received by people sitting in different positions.

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

How Odd

This problem challenges you to find out how many odd numbers there are between pairs of numbers. Can you find a pair of numbers that has four odds between them?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Ip Dip

"Ip dip sky blue! Who's 'it'? It's you!" Where would you position yourself so that you are 'it' if there are two players? Three players ...?

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Sort Them Out (1)

Can you each work out the number on your card? What do you notice? How could you sort the cards?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Lots of Biscuits!

Help share out the biscuits the children have made.

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Tug Harder!

In this game, you can add, subtract, multiply or divide the numbers on the dice. Which will you do so that you get to the end of the number line first?

Age 7 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Tug of War

Can you use the numbers on the dice to reach your end of the number line before your partner beats you?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Swimming Pool

In this problem, we're investigating the number of steps we would climb up or down to get out of or into the swimming pool. How could you number the steps below the water?

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Picture a Pyramid ...

Imagine a pyramid which is built in square layers of small cubes. If we number the cubes from the top, starting with 1, can you picture which cubes are directly below this first cube?

Age 7 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

100 Square Jigsaw

Can you complete this jigsaw of the 100 square?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Cunning Card Trick

Delight your friends with this cunning trick! Can you explain how it works?

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Diagonal Sums Sudoku

Solve this Sudoku puzzle whose clues are in the form of sums of the numbers which should appear in diagonal opposite cells.

Age 7 to 16
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Ladybird Count

Some children were playing a game. Make a graph or picture to show how many ladybirds each child had.

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Amazing Card Trick

How is it possible to predict the card?

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Counting Cards

A magician took a suit of thirteen cards and held them in his hand face down. Every card he revealed had the same value as the one he had just finished spelling. How did this work?

Age 7 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Which Is Quicker?

Which is quicker, counting up to 30 in ones or counting up to 300 in tens? Why?

Age 7 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Nim-7

Can you work out how to win this game of Nim? Does it matter if you go first or second?

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Neighbours

In a square in which the houses are evenly spaced, numbers 3 and 10 are opposite each other. What is the smallest and what is the largest possible number of houses in the square?

Age 7 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Birthday Cakes

Jack's mum bought some candles to use on his birthday cakes and when his sister was born, she used them on her cakes too. Can you use the information to find out when Kate was born?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Making Sticks

Kimie and Sebastian were making sticks from interlocking cubes and lining them up. Can they make their lines the same length? Can they make any other lines?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

A Bowl of Fruit

Can you work out how many apples there are in this fruit bowl if you know what fraction there are?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Buzzy Bee

Buzzy Bee was building a honeycomb. She decorated the honeycomb with a pattern using numbers. Can you discover Buzzy's pattern and fill in the empty cells for her?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Next Domino

Which comes next in each pattern of dominoes?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Writing Digits

Lee was writing all the counting numbers from 1 to 20. She stopped for a rest after writing seventeen digits. What was the last number she wrote?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Noah

Noah saw 12 legs walk by into the Ark. How many creatures did he see?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Find a Path

Can you find a path from a number at the top of this network to the bottom which goes through each number from 1 to 9 once and once only?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Spelling Circle

Find the words hidden inside each of the circles by counting around a certain number of spaces to find each letter in turn.

Age 7 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Mrs Beeswax

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?

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Page Numbers

Exactly 195 digits have been used to number the pages in a book. How many pages does the book have?

Age 7 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Euromaths

How many ways can you write the word EUROMATHS by starting at the top left hand corner and taking the next letter by stepping one step down or one step to the right in a 5x5 array?

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Pairs

Ann thought of 5 numbers and told Bob all the sums that could be made by adding the numbers in pairs. The list of sums is 6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10,10, 11, 12. Help Bob to find out which numbers Ann was thinking of.

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

How Many Dice?

A standard die has the numbers 1, 2 and 3 are opposite 6, 5 and 4 respectively so that opposite faces add to 7? If you make standard dice by writing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 on blank cubes you will find there are 2 and only 2 different standard dice. Can you prove this ?

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Cube Paths

Given a 2 by 2 by 2 skeletal cube with one route `down' the cube. How many routes are there from A to B?

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Painting Cubes

Imagine you have six different colours of paint. You paint a cube using a different colour for each of the six faces. How many different cubes can be painted using the same set of six colours?

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Card Trick 2

Can you explain how this card trick works?

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Euler's Officers

How many different ways can you arrange the officers in a square?

Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Doodles

Draw a 'doodle' - a closed intersecting curve drawn without taking pencil from paper. What can you prove about the intersections?

Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level Yellow star
Problem Primary curriculum Secondary curriculum

Month Mania

Can you design a new shape for the twenty-eight squares and arrange the numbers in a logical way? What patterns do you notice?

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

  • Tech help
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Sign up to our newsletter
  • Twitter X logo

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.

University of Cambridge logo NRICH logo