Try a mission. Then read the solution — that's the product.

How to solve it

Draw a bar model: 1 unit for Mia's age, and 4 matching units for her father's age (since he is 4 times as old).

Total units = 1 + 4 = 5 units, and each unit is worth Mia's age, 7 years.

Sum of their ages = 5 × 7 = 35

What this teaches

Help your child spot the two separate steps: first work out the unknown age using the multiplying clue, then perform the sum or difference the question actually asks for. Many mistakes happen when children answer the multiplication step (28) instead of finishing with the sum (35). Reading the question twice — once to find the missing age, once to check what is actually being asked — helps avoid this.

How to solve it

The path is 24 m long and the lamp posts are spaced 4 m apart.

Number of gaps between lamp posts = 24 ÷ 4 = 6

Since there is a lamp post at both the start AND the end, the number of lamp posts is always one more than the number of gaps.

Number of lamp posts = 6 + 1 = 7

What this teaches

This is one of the most common traps in primary maths — children often divide the length by the spacing and stop, forgetting to add 1 for the extra end item. Drawing a short line with dots (even for a smaller example like a 12 m path with 4 m spacing) and physically counting the dots helps your child see why "+1" is needed whenever both ends have an item.

How to solve it

Ryan is 5th from the front, so there are 4 children in front of him. Ryan is 6th from the back, so there are 5 children behind him.

Total number of children = (children in front) + Ryan himself + (children behind) = 4 + 1 + 5 = 10

What this teaches

A frequent mistake is simply adding 5 + 6 = 11, which double-counts Ryan. Encourage your child to draw a row of small circles, label one circle "Ryan," and physically count 4 circles in front and 5 circles behind before counting the total — this makes the "+1 for Ryan himself" rule concrete rather than abstract.