Designed to stretch thinking and boost reasoning skills, these engaging problem-solving tasks are ideal for more experienced learners and fast finishers. Each activity directly links to the learning objectives used in our Maths Masters scheme, making it easy to embed within your existing planning. Use them during lessons, as morning starters or in guided groups to revisit key concepts in a new way. With open-ended challenges and plenty of opportunities for discussion, Mission Solve It! helps pupils apply their knowledge, explain their thinking, and build confidence in solving unfamiliar problems.
Looking for high-quality problem solving activities to stretch mathematical reasoning skills? Maths Masters: Mission Solve It! offers a growing collection of reasoning and problem solving tasks designed to develop deeper thinking and challenge children working at greater depth.
These engaging tasks are ideal for fast finishers, guided groups, early morning work or maths meetings – and they cover the same objectives as our Maths Masters scheme which is aligned with White Rose small steps to ensure consistent progression and curriculum coverage.
Our activities are designed to support key reasoning skills such as:
Each Mission Solve It! activity encourages mathematical talk, collaboration, and resilience – helping children move beyond fluency to develop real mathematical depth.
Each activity is crafted to:
When pupils complete their core maths work quickly, it can be tricky to keep them engaged without simply moving them on to the next skill. Maths Masters: Mission Solve It! solves this by offering meaningful extension tasks that still link back to your core teaching – ideal for reinforcing and deepening current learning rather than rushing ahead.
These tasks align with the White Rose Maths scheme and cover the same learning objectives. Use them to revisit prior learning, challenge children working at greater depth, or extend current understanding. They’re especially useful for ensuring that pupils can apply what they’ve learned in new contexts – a key expectation of the curriculum.
Each activity includes:
Introduce one problem-solving activity per week as part of your regular maths routine. Encourage pupils to explain their thinking using full sentences, and model how to use reasoning language such as because, I know this because, and if… then…. Over time, this will build confidence and fluency in mathematical talk – an essential part of mastering greater depth.
Can these be used with White Rose Maths?
Yes – all activities are aligned with the White Rose objectives and help reinforce the key concepts.
Are they suitable for fast finishers?
Absolutely – they’re ideal for extending early finishers in a meaningful, curriculum-aligned way.
Can I use these in mixed ability groups?
Yes – the open-ended nature of the tasks allows all pupils to access the challenge at their level, with support or extension as needed.
