These resources are designed to support the many Maths Clubs that schools run across the country. Each activity is fully resourced and accessible to all 11-16 students at different levels. They should take around 30 minutes to work through, with extension activities to develop the ideas further according to the students’ engagement and interest. Of course, they could be used as enrichment activities in lessons or as activities for enrichment days. These activities will be added to over time, so do keep an eye out for new titles.
Maths Week England
These resources were designed as part of the AMSP’s support for Maths Week England.
Josephus
Explore how maths was used during the Roman Empire to solve a rather gruesome problem.
Circle Construction
Use geometry from the Ancient Greeks to construct some beautiful shapes.
Columbus Cube
Challenge yourselves to make a giant origami tower.
Mind Reading Trick
Amaze yourselves and your friends by performing a number trick.
Game of Nim
Play games, explore game theory and learn how binary can help you always win.
If you have signed up to “Race to the target” please don’t use these resources with students who will be attending until AFTER the event. If you have already attended the event then some of the games will be familiar, so you can speed on to the new explanation tasks.
If you have signed up to “Race to the target” please don’t use these resources with students who will be attending until AFTER the event. If you have already attended the event then some of the games will be familiar, so you can speed on to the new explanation tasks.
Number tricks
These resources were designed as part of the AMSP’s support for Maths Week England.
Dastardly Digits
Can you do ‘magic’ or ‘mind-reading’? In this activity, we explore the maths of some ‘magic’ that students can reproduce to amaze their friends and families.
Sum Tricks
Have you ever wanted to add numbers really fast? This activity shows how to add large numbers quickly… if you know the secret!
Trick Product – All the Ones
Have you ever wondered why squaring numbers made of ones creates the patterns it does? This activity supports students in understanding how the place value of the number leads to the patterns we see.
Card tricks
You will need a pack of playing cards for these activities.
10 card trick
Can you ‘control minds’ and make people do what you want – or does the maths help you?
21 card trick
This activity explores the maths behind the ‘magic’ of this classic card trick that has amazed audiences for years.
27 card trick
This card trick is an extension of the 21 card trick that will help you to surprise your friends and family! We suggest you master the 21 card trick before you try this extreme version…
Origami
Stellated polygons
Your students can explore the world of stellated shapes using ruler and compasses – or GeoGebra if they have computer access.
Modular Origami
These two presentations take students through creating units which can make up other shapes. There are detailed instructions to make a cube or a stellated octahedron in the second presentation.
Origami Dodecahedron
This set of three presentations takes students through making the basic units for the dodecahedron and instructions for creating the dodecahedron using post-its. The third presentation explores the graph theory behind the creation of a three colour dodecahedron.
Different Geometries
These activities explore geometries beyond those studied in school maths. Although they are standalone activities, it is recommended that you do the Hypercubes activity before the Hyperspheres activity.
Möbius strips
Explore the baffling world of möbius strips and what happens when you have more than one strip, or more than one twist. There are some surprising results!
Hypercubes
Delve in to the 4th dimension and beyond, looking at what happens to cubes beyond 3D.
Hyperspheres
Geometry beyond 3D can become amazing very quickly. Explore spheres beyond 3D, and what happens when you pack them inside cubes.
Mathematical drawing
Fractals
Fractals allow us to challenge our notion of infinity while drawing some beautiful shapes. This activity explores Koch’s Curve and the Sierpinski Triangle.
Black and white illusions
Create a simple illusion using only black and white and parallel lines.
Victor Vasarely Cube
Explore the work of Victor Vasarely and optical illusions using isometric drawing.
Permutations and Combinations
Pringle Permutations
This activity uses an advert from the 2019 Superbowl to explore permutations and combinations.