Scribd
Upload
390 views

Mind-Bending Math Puzzles

Uploaded by

matijahajek88
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
390 views

Mind-Bending Math Puzzles

Uploaded by

matijahajek88
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 69

CONTENTS

Tips on Solving Puzzles from a Wise Old Bird


Race Against Time
Parking Space
Best in Show
Monster Munch
T-shirt Trends
Snack Time
Sail Away
Hungry Games
Gift Wrapped
Toy Cars
Sneaky Snacks
Movie Star
Upsy Daisy
Family Values
Matching Predictions
In the Kitchen
Leap Pad
Deck the Halls
Snakes Alive!
Right on Cue
Brain Food
Alien Encounter
Get It Right!
How Striking!
Find a Friend
Answers
Glossary, Further Information
Index
TIPS ON SOLVING
PUZZLES FROM A WISE
OLD BIRD

Here are some wise words to help you on your way.


RACE AGAINST TIME
Sanjay starts his sand sculpture at 1: 30 p.m. Each dragon
takes him 45 minutes, and a castle takes an hour and
twenty minutes. Sadly, the tide washes it all away at 6: 30
p.m. How long will the completed sculpture be on display?
PARKING SPACE

There is room in each garage for three cars or two vans.


Cars and vans cannot share the same garage. How many of
these vehicles will have to park elsewhere?
Best in Show

Each rabbit has been given a number. Which numbered


rabbits have won prizes?
MONSTER MUNCH

Using your finger to trace a path, help the monster chomp


its way through a total of 60, without retracing its steps at
any point.
T-SHIRT TRENDS

Study the designs on these T-shirts, and then figure out the
answers to the questions.
1. How many stars do you predict there will be
on the sixth shirt in the collection?
2. And how many stars on the 100th T-shirt?
3. Will the 22nd shirt have long sleeves or short
sleeves?
4. What number of spots do you predict will
appear on the 30th T-shirt?
SNACK TIME

Each creature in this food pyramid eats ten of the thing


below it. How many frogs must 10 snakes eat?
Sail Away

The passengers must solve the problems on their


tickets to see which ship they should board. Which
ship has the fewest passengers?
HUNGRY GAMES
If 6 caterpillars can eat 60 leaves in an hour, how long
would it take for 8 caterpillars to eat 40 leaves?
GIFT WRAPPED

Which of the shapes below folds into the box that Stacey’s
present came in?
TOY CARS

Penny has put her toy cars into boxes. The cars are
different colors. Can you figure out the probability of taking
a green car from each box? The first has been done to show
you how.
SNEAKY SNACKS

Each snack is worth a different number. When they are


added across or down, they equal the total in the circle.
What snack is missing?
Movie Star

Karina owns 60 saris— 15% of them are green, and 24 of


them are pink. One third of the remainder are yellow.
UPSY DAISY

These are so easy that Daisy can do them standing on her


head!
FAMILY VALUES

Dena is researching her family tree. Help her to figure out


how old her relatives will be when she is 18, and some
other questions that she wants to answer.
MATCHING PAIRS

Each large square should contain two matching pairs of


smaller squares. They can be any way up. Which small
square is not needed to complete the patterns?
IN THE KITCHEN
LEAP PAD

Use your finger to find the lily pads that Freda can hop
across that are not divisible by 3.
Deck the Halls
The members of the Number Club are decorating their
clubhouse. They want each banner to have six different
numbers. Make one cut in each banner and retie the
strings so that no banner has the same number twice.
SNAKES ALIVE!

Study the snake shapes. How many more snakes need to


join in to make the next two patterns in the sequence?
How many snakes would there be if all five patterns
were laid out together in full?
RIGHT ON CUE

Aaron, Bubba, Becca, and Maddie are playing pool. What is


the highest number they can make by lining up all the balls
on the table?
BRAIN FOOD
Alien Encounter

Figure out which alien is the biggest by doing these


calculations. Start with the problems in the parentheses
each time.
Get It Right!

Ari wants to eat salmon and ginger, but not puffer fish.
Which set menu should he choose?
HOW STRIKING!

Wanda is adding a different number of lightning bolts to


each cauldron, following a pattern. How many bolts should
she put in the last cauldron?
Find a Friend

Help each flamingo find a partner by matching the pairs


that have the same answers.
Answers

4. Race Against Time


It is now 1: 30 p.m., and the sculpture shown will take
3 hours and 35 minutes. So it will be finished at 5: 05,
giving 1 hour and 25 minutes for people to see the
finished sculpture.
5. Parking Space
1 van and 2 cars will have to park elsewhere.
6. Best in Show
Gold cup = 8
Red ribbon = 10
Orange ribbon = 7
7. Monster Munch
8. T-shirt Trends
1. 6 stars
2. 100 stars
3. Long sleeves (it’s an even number)
4. 31 spots
9. Snack Time
10 snakes would eat 100 frogs.
10. Sail Away
Ship 39
11. Hungry Games
30 minutes
6 caterpillars eat 10 leaves each in an hour. So 8
caterpillars would eat 80 leaves in an hour, or 40
leaves in half that time.
12. Gift Wrapped
5 (Numbers 1, 3, and 4 don’t fold into a cube.
Numbers 2 and 6 don’t have the patterns in the
correct place.)
13. Toy Cars
2. 1/4
3. 2/5
4. 1/3
5. 1/4
14. Sneaky Snacks
Grape juice is missing.
15. Movie Star
40% are pink. 9 are yellow.
She had 25 pairs of earrings.
16. Upsy Daisy
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
17. Family Values
Dena will be 18 in 2026. These are the ages of her
relatives in that year:
George Richards 81 ; Faith Richards 74;
Kris Thompson 77 ; Sally Thompson
73; Peter Richards 53; Megan
Thompson 49; Alyssa 21; AJ 15
1. Sally Thompson was born
55 years before Dena.
2. Her brother is 3 years younger.
3. Age 3 (Dena) and 6 (Alyssa).
18. Matching Pairs
2
19. In the Kitchen
1. 48
2. She will need to increase the ingredients by half as
much again, which is tricky with 1 1/3 cups of flour
and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.
3. 3 cups
4. 6 eggs
20. Leap Pad
21. Deck the Halls
Cut the last two flags off strings A and D and swap
them over. Cut strings B and C in half and swap them
over.
This will give you:
516342
564321
245136
132654
22. Snakes Alive!
4 snakes complete the next two patterns. Altogether
you would need
35 snakes.
23. Right on Cue
954,321
24. Brain Food
3/4 = 9/12 = 15/20, seen on pizza b
25. Alien Encounter
Alien e is the biggest.
a. 11 d. 12
b. 14 e. 16
c. 8 f. 15
26. Get It Right!
Set menu 24
27. How Striking!
24 lightning bolts
28. Find a Friend
32 ÷ 2 = 4 x 4
1/3 x 75 = 5 x 5
72 x 0.5 = 6 x 6
100 – 36 = 8 x 8
Glossary

calculations Things that are figured out mathematically.


divisible Able to be divided by another number with no
remainder.
equivalent The same.
food pyramid A way of showing a food chain, or links
between living things and the food they eat.
multiple A number that can be exactly divided by another
number.
predict To say what will happen next, or in advance.
probability How likely something will happen, sometimes
written as a fraction or percentage.
puffer fish Small fish that puff their bodies up by
swallowing water or air to make it difficult for predators to
eat them.
Further Information

Books
Creative Picture Puzzles by Sarah Lawrence, Arcturus
Publishing, 2017
Maths Games for Clever Kids by Gareth Moore, Buster
Books, 2018
Maths Puzzle Pad by Sam Smith, Usborne Publishing,
2016
99 Maths Puzzles by Sarah Khan, Usborne Publishing,
2015
The Best Puzzle Book Ever by Andy Peters, Arcturus
Publishing, 2017
The Big Book of Kids’ Puzzles by Jess Bradley, Arcturus
Publishing, 2016

Websites
https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/zn2y7nb
Challenge your brain with these math puzzles on the BBC
website.
https://www.mathisfun.com/worksheets
Try these downloadable math activities!
Publisher’s note to educators and parents: Our editors have carefully
reviewed these websites to ensure that they are suitable for students. Many
websites change frequently, however, and we cannot guarantee that a site’s
future contents will continue to meet our high standards of quality and
educational value. Be advised that students should be closely supervised
whenever they access the internet.
Index

A
addition 6, 14
aliens 25

B
boxes 12

C
calculations 10, 25, 28
cars 5, 13
caterpillars 11
cupcakes 19

D
division 6, 10, 20, 25

F
family tree 17
flamingos 28
food pyramid 9
fractions 24
frogs 20

H
hiker 6

K
kings 24
kitchen 19

M
maze 7
monsters 7
multiples 6, 26
multiplication 9, 10

P
patterns 16, 18, 22
percentages 15
pizza 24
pool 23
predictions 8, 18
probability 13

R
rabbits 6

S
sand sculptures 4
shapes 12, 22
ships 10
snacks 14
snakes 22

T
time 4
Published in 2020 by Windmill Books, an Imprint of Rosen Publishing
29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright © Arcturus Holdings Ltd, 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Edited by Kate Overy and Joe Harris


Written by Lisa Regan
Illustrated by Ed Myer and Graham Rich
Designed by Trudi Webb and Emma Randall
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Regan, Lisa.
Title: Mind-bending math puzzles / Lisa Regan.
Description: New York: Windmill Books, 2020. |
Series: Brain blasters | Includes glossary and index.
Identifiers: ISBN 9781725394469 (pbk.) |
ISBN 9781725394483 (library bound) | ISBN
9781725394476 (6 pack)
Subjects: LCSH: Puzzles--Juvenile literature. | Logic
puzzles--Juvenile literature. | Picture puzzles--Juvenile
literature.
Classification: LCC GV1493.R465 2020 |
DDC 793.8--dc23

Manufactured in the United States of America


CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch BW20WM: For Further Information contact Rosen
Publishing, New York, New York at 1-800-237-9932

You might also like