Maths inspired arts & crafts, games, puzzles, baking and more!
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
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!
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.
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!
Puzzles are a fun way to learn about symmetry, and you can make your own out of Lego bricks and a base board. For younger kids, use Duplo bricks and simple patterns, for older kids use regular Lego bricks and make the patterns more challenging.
Maths War is a great little game to practice different kinds of maths skills, including number values, place value, addition and multiplication. All you need is one of two packs of regular playing cards, with the face cards (Jack, Queen, King) removed.
Time to get your scissors & paints out to create your own Tower of Hanoi puzzle - and then of course you'll have to solve it! But don't worry, we've included the solutions at the end of the video. You can try it with 3, 4 or 5 discs.
Pencils at the ready! Using dot grid paper to create pictures, connect adjacent dots vertically, horizontally or diagonally to create geometric drawings.
If you don't have any dot grid paper, you can download and print off some for free via the link below. Or you can use graph paper and connect the corners of the squares instead.
Join Numberella, Ronnie Resist, Miss A Go and The Thief in an exciting interactive adventure that will take you deep into the jungle of the lost world of Meravilium. Use your maths skills to help the adventurers outwit the mysterious talking creatures who guard the great pyramid… and help them discover the secrets that lie inside!
There are two difficulty levels to choose from, one for the 7-10 age group and one for the 11-14 age group. Everyone who completes the adventure wins a certificate!
Try your hand at coding and bring a character to life with code in Scratch! Follow along with Claire Quigley from Glasgow Life to try the example below of a “Counting Sheep” to see how it’s done, or watch our video at scienceceilidh.com/codedance and then share your animation!
Content created by Science Ceilidh
Some tips from the Scottish Government's Parent Club on how to make maths homework fun, plus some suggestions for maths games to play together at home.
There's lots to do for families during Maths Week Scotland, from the events, activities and challenges you can find on our website, to getting busy with maths inspired games, arts, books and baking at home.
We've created a wee booklet for you, which you can print out and record all your Maths Week Scotland activities, plus a section to write about yourself and a couple of brain teasers to get you in the mood for maths.
Just print, fold, and you're good to go!
Pi Day (14th March) is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi). Here are seven fun ways to celebrate pi, on Pi Day or all year round.