Nico and his little sister play with shells and marbles. Each shell is worth 6 and each marble is worth 1 (shell = 6, marble = 1). Which picture shows the value 16?
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Answer: E
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Hint 1 of 2
Each shell counts as 6 and each marble counts as 1 - add up each picture's total.
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Hint 2 of 2
You need a total of exactly 16, so look for two shells plus four marbles.
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Approach: add the shell and marble values in each option
A shell is worth 6 and a marble is worth 1.
Two shells give 12, and you need 4 more to reach 16, so 4 marbles.
The picture with two shells and four marbles totals 12 + 4 = 16.
Kenny the Kangaroo hops from his school to the zoo. He hops like this: up 2, up-left 2, down-left 1, left 4 (see picture). From the zoo, Kenny hops like this: right 3, up-right 2, up 2. Which house does Kenny land at?
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Answer: A
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Hint 1 of 2
Start at the Zoo dot and follow the new hops one by one on the grid.
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Hint 2 of 2
Track the arrows right 3, up-right 2, up 2 step by step until you land on a house.
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Approach: trace the hops on the grid from the zoo
Begin at the Zoo marker and move right 3 squares.
Then move diagonally up-right 2 squares, then straight up 2 squares.
Mia builds a large cube out of small cubes. While she is building it, she takes a photo at five different times. Which of the five photos shown is the fourth?
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Answer: A
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Hint 1 of 2
The photos show the cube growing, so put them in order from fewest cubes to a full cube.
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Hint 2 of 2
Order the five pictures by how complete the cube is, then count to the fourth one.
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Approach: order the photos by how built-up the cube is
The cube is assembled over time, so the photos go from least built to fully built.
Arrange the five images by increasing number of small cubes placed.
The fourth picture in that order is the nearly-complete cube shown in option A.
Simona writes the numbers 2, 0, 2 and 5 in the boxes, one number per box (see picture). In what order can she write them so that the calculation gives the biggest result?
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Answer: E — 5, 2, 0, 2
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Hint 1 of 2
The third box is the one that gets subtracted, so put the smallest number there.
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Hint 2 of 2
Put the 0 in the subtracted (third) box and add everything else.
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Approach: minimise what is subtracted, maximise what is added
The calculation is first + second minus third + fourth.
To make it biggest, subtract the smallest number, which is 0.
Then the other three (5, 2, 2) are all added: 5 + 2 - 0 + 2 = 9.
The order 5, 2, 0, 2 does this, which is option E.
Max draws a large circle in the sand and Lisa adds the letters A, B, C and D. Starting together from point A, Lisa runs clockwise and Max runs anti-clockwise around the circle (see picture). They meet for the first time at B, then at C, then at D, and then again at A. How many times has Max run around the circle by then?
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Answer: C — 3 times
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Hint 1 of 2
Each time they meet, together they have covered one more full circle.
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Hint 2 of 2
Find what fraction of the circle Max covers before the first meeting, then scale up to the total laps.
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Approach: use the constant speed ratio across the meetings
Going opposite ways, between meetings the two together cover one whole circle.
They first meet at B after Max has gone three quarters of the way around (A to D to C to B), so Max is 3 times faster.
From the start until they meet again at A, together they cover 4 circles.
Max therefore covers 3 of those 4 circles, so Max ran around 3 times - option C.
Anna, Bonnie and Caspar have some kangaroo cookies on their plates (see picture). There are 15 more cookies left over. They share these out so that each child ends up with the same number of cookies on their plate. How many cookies are added to Anna's plate?
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Answer: D — 6
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Hint 1 of 2
First find how many cookies there are altogether, then share them equally among the three children.
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Hint 2 of 2
Subtract the cookies Anna already has from her fair share.
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Approach: find the equal share, then see how many Anna still needs
The plates already hold 3 (Anna) + 4 (Bonnie) + 5 (Caspar) = 12 cookies.
With the 15 extra there are 12 + 15 = 27 cookies in all.
Shared equally, each child should have 27 ÷ 3 = 9 cookies.
In the morning, the five friends Anna, Bob, Cristina, David and Eduard each have a fully charged phone battery. By evening, Bob has used up as much of his battery as Anna and Cristina together, and Bob's battery is now empty. David has not used his phone at all. The pictures show the battery levels of the five children. Which one is Eduard's battery level?
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Answer: B
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Hint 1 of 2
David did not use his phone, so his battery is still full - that pins down 'full'.
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Hint 2 of 2
Bob's used-up amount equals Anna's plus Cristina's; match the five pictures to the five children to find the leftover one for Eduard.
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Approach: assign the five battery pictures by the given clues
David's phone is full (unused) and Bob's is empty (fully used).
Bob's drained amount equals Anna's drain plus Cristina's drain combined.
Match those clues to four of the five pictures; the one left over is Eduard's.
Rudi feeds six sheep in the petting zoo. The six sheep get a total of 210 g of food. Each of the five large sheep gets the same amount, and the small sheep gets twice as much as a large sheep. How much food does the small sheep get?
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Answer: C — 60 g
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Hint 1 of 2
The small sheep eats as much as two large sheep, so count it as two large sheep.
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Hint 2 of 2
Then the 210 g is shared into 7 equal large-sheep portions.
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Approach: count everything in equal large-sheep portions
The small sheep eats as much as two large sheep, so pretend it is two large sheep.
Now there are 5 + 2 = 7 equal large-sheep portions sharing 210 g.
Each portion is 210 ÷ 7 = 30 g.
The small sheep gets two portions: 30 + 30 = 60 g, option C.
Tom wants to cut the pizza into two halves so that each half has the same number of tomatoes. There are two ways to do this. Along which lines can he cut?
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Answer: D — 2 or 4
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Hint 1 of 2
A cut through the centre splits the tomatoes into two halves - you need each half to hold the same number.
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Hint 2 of 2
Test the labelled lines: a fair cut has equal tomatoes on both sides.
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Approach: find centre lines that split the tomatoes evenly
Each valid cut is a straight line through the middle of the pizza.
Count tomatoes on each side of the labelled lines.
Lines 2 and 4 each leave the same number of tomatoes on both halves.
Six ladybirds have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 spots. Marta takes four photos, each showing three different ladybirds, and each ladybird appears in the same number of photos. The first three photos are shown. How many spots do the three ladybirds in the fourth photo have in total?
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Answer: C — 12
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Hint 1 of 2
There are 4 photos with 3 ladybirds each, that is 12 ladybird-appearances shared equally among 6 ladybirds.
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Hint 2 of 2
So every ladybird appears in exactly 2 photos, which tells you the grand total of spots over all four photos.
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Approach: find the grand total of all four photos, then subtract the three shown
Four photos with three ladybirds each give 12 appearances; split equally among 6 ladybirds, so each appears in exactly 2 photos.
Then all four photos together show every spot-count twice: 2 × (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6) = 2 × 21 = 42 spots.
The three shown photos hold 30 spots in total.
So the fourth photo has 42 − 30 = 12 spots, option C.
Maria writes the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, each exactly once, into the number wall. Each upper box equals the sum of the two boxes just below it. The bottom-left box already holds 6. Which number must she write in the box with the star?
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Answer: D — 4
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Hint 1 of 2
The box sitting on top of the 6 is 6 plus its neighbour, and it can be at most 7.
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Hint 2 of 2
That forces the neighbour, then keep building upward with 1 to 7 each used once.
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Approach: use that no box can exceed 7 to fix the numbers, then build upward
Every box is the sum of the two below it, and no number is bigger than 7.
The box above the 6 is 6 + (its right neighbour), so that neighbour must be 1, giving 6 + 1 = 7.
The leftover numbers 2, 3, 5 must fill the rest; placing the bottom row as 6, 1, 3, 2 gives the next row 7, 4, 5 - and that uses 1 to 7 exactly once.
The starred middle-top box is 1 + 3 = 4, option D.
Jana writes down how much her toys weigh: 22 g, 23 g, 25 g, 34 g and 36 g. She wants to share all her toys into two boxes so that both boxes weigh the same. Which two toys do not go in the same box?
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Answer: C
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Hint 1 of 2
Add all five weights and split into two equal boxes.
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Hint 2 of 2
Find which toys sum to half the total; the two that land in different boxes are your answer.
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Approach: split the weights into two equal halves
The weights 22, 23, 25, 34, 36 add to 140 g, so each box holds 70 g.
One box is 22 + 23 + 25 = 70 (balloon, car, boat); the other is 34 + 36 = 70 (helicopter, plane).
So the balloon and the plane end up in different boxes.
The picture on the right shows a bracelet with round, square and triangular gemstones. Lisa removes three neighbouring stones, one of each shape. Which bracelet can be created?
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Answer: B
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Hint 1 of 2
Removing three neighbours (one circle, one square, one triangle) leaves a gap of three in the ring.
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Hint 2 of 2
Find a stretch of three adjacent stones with one of each shape, then see what remains.
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Approach: remove a valid run of three neighbouring stones
Lisa removes three stones in a row, one of each shape.
Locate a circle, square, and triangle sitting next to each other on the bracelet.
Taking them out leaves the arrangement shown in option B.
The calendar shows the days of a month, with the columns running Monday, Tuesday, …, Sunday, but the dates are missing. The two dark grey boxes are a Thursday and a Wednesday. If you add the two dates in the dark grey boxes, you get 29. What day of the week is the 1st of the month?
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Answer: D — Thursday
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Hint 1 of 3
Count the days from the grey Thursday box down to the grey Wednesday box - it is exactly 13 days later.
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Hint 2 of 3
So the two grey dates are 13 apart and add up to 29; find two such numbers.
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Hint 3 of 3
Once you know the grey Thursday's date, count back by 7s to reach the 1st.
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Approach: use the 13-day gap and the sum of 29, then walk back to the 1st
Going down two rows and one box to the left, the grey Wednesday lands 13 days after the grey Thursday.
Take away those extra 13 days from the sum 29, and 16 is left for two equal Thursday dates, so each is 16 ÷ 2 = 8 - the grey Thursday is the 8th.
Counting back a week, the 1st of the month is also a Thursday (8, then 1).
Nele folds a piece of paper in half and then in half again (see picture). She cuts four pieces out of the folded paper. When she unfolds it, she sees the pattern shown. What did the paper look like before she unfolded it?
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Answer: A
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Hint 1 of 2
Fold the unfolded pattern back in half twice and see what single quarter-piece you get.
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Hint 2 of 2
The folded paper shows just one quarter of the pattern, with cuts on the folded edges.
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Approach: fold the pattern back to a quarter
Folding in half twice stacks the paper into four layers, so the cuts repeat four times.
Reverse it: take one quarter of the shown pattern.
That single folded quarter is the X-shape in option A.
To compare the weights of a red square, a star and a green circle, Mona uses a beam balance (see picture). The lower pan holds the heavier side. Each shape always has the same weight, different shapes have different weights, and every weight is 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 kg. How many kilograms does the red square weigh?
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Answer: C — 3 kg
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Hint 1 of 2
The lower pan is heavier: one square outweighs two stars, and two circles outweigh three squares.
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Hint 2 of 2
Try weights 1 to 5 for the square: it must be more than two stars yet light enough that two circles beat three of it.
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Approach: read both balances, then test the square's weight
Left balance: the square pan is lower, so one square is heavier than two stars.
Right balance: the two-circle pan is lower, so two circles are heavier than three squares.
One square beating two stars means the square is at least 3 (two different weights of 1 and 2 already make 3).
If the square is 4, three squares weigh 12, but two circles can be at most 2×5 = 10 - too light. So the square is 3, with stars 1 and circles 5: 3 > 2 and 10 > 9 both hold, giving 3 kg, option C.
