Maths inspired arts & crafts, games, puzzles, baking and more!
We've put together a selection of Spring and Easter puzzles covering a range of different maths skills including counting, pattern recognition, logical thinking, code breaking, and using tessellation or symmetry to create designs.
To celebrate Pi Day, we're showing you two different ways to make a necklace or bracelet that will help you memorise the digits of pi. Wear yours on Pi Day, or make one to share with a maths loving friend.
A simple but fun maths activity perfect for Valentine's Day. Create a geometric heart out of squares and triangles, and learn about patterns, fractions and multiplication along the way.
Dig out your old magazines, and challenge them to a magazine number hunt! See how many different numbers you can find, then sort them in ascending order. Or do a shape hunt instead and create a collage out of all the different shapes you can find.
Celebrate Burns Night with our fun shape activity, in honour of one of Robert Burns' most well known poems, 'To a Mouse'. Cut out shapes of different sizes from coloured paper or card, and arrange them to create mice. What other shapes can you use? How about a pentagon or a hexagon mouse?
We love baking here at Maths Week Scotland, and pancakes are no different. Find out how much maths is involved in baking, have a go at our fun maths facts activities, and download our recipe to bake your own yummy pancakes at home.
A scavenger hunt is a great way to get out and about AND have some fun with maths. Go on a Shape Hunt, looking for how many different shapes you can find in your neighbourhood. Why not document what you find and share your photographs with us online!
In a series of four videos, children demonstrate how mathematical principles including symmetry, tessellation and 3D shapes, can be the basis for a huge range of art and craft projects. Cubic chickens, cat portraits, stained glass windows, stencils, a birthday card for your granny…
The videos are made with children in mind, but are suitable for all ages - try for yourself!
Created by Anne McNaught and Johanna Hall
Tenzi is a dice game for two or more players, which is great for number recognition. You will need a set of ten dice per player, with a different colour of dice each. The basic aim of the game is to be the first player to get all of your dice to show the same number.
Test your problem-solving skills and try to crack our secret messages using clues
Code Break is an interactive web app consisting of three ciphers: Pigpen, Caesar and simple substitution (solved by frequency analysis). Earn stars for each challenge, and learn about code-breaking through the ages by playing our interactive ‘Could you be a code breaker?’
Created by the Open University
Pyramid is a card game for two or more players, to practice addition. For older children, the same game play can also be used for multiplication. To play either version, you will need a standard set of cards with the face cards (Jack, Queen, King) removed.
Here's a fun wee activity for younger learners, to playfully encourage number recognition: dig out your Lego and get creating! Building with Lego is an opportunity to incorporate a little maths in to your children's play time. How many bricks do they need of each colour? What size of bricks - 2x2 blocks, or 2x4? While they're having fun, they're already learning maths without even realising it.
It's time for a little geometry magic! Children will love this geometry paper trick - first you can impress them with it, and then they can impress their friends.
Are you ready for a mathematical space adventure? Prepare for a journey to the Planet Turasmara. Download and complete your passport application ready for boarding, then solve the six space maths challenges!
Created by the Scottish Mathematical Council
Pig is a dice game for two or more players. All you need to play is one six sided die, some paper and a pen or pencil to keep score. Pig is what's known as a jeopardy game, where you have to decide whether to jeopardise previous points gained by rolling again to gain even more points. As well as practicing basic maths skills counting up your scores, Pig teaches you to think strategically - if you are too greedy and take too many risks, you might lose your points!
Five exhibits at National Museum of Scotland have been written in code! Can you use your code breaking skills to find out what they are?
Created by Open University Faculty of STEM
This is a great card game for practicing simple equations, including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. All you need is one deck of regular playing cards, with the face cards (Jack, Queen, King) removed.
How to fold an origami hexagon out of a sheet of A4 paper! You could write a letter inside your sheet of paper first, before folding it up.
Numerical doodles are a fun way for children to gain more confidence in recognising and naming numbers. Older learners can also still have fun getting creative. Try your hand at recreating our doodles, or create your own - what can you turn each number in to?
In this video, we show you how to make a fun geometric brain teaser. You will need a square piece of paper, a ruler, a pencil, and a pair of scissors. Then find a willing volunteer to solve the puzzle. It's not as easy as it looks!