May 2026 Contest — Grade 3
The May 2026 North Star contest paper for Grade 3 has 12 questions and a 45-minute limit. Two sample questions with worked solutions are below, and you can take the whole paper online for free — no account, no sign-up.
- Grade
- Grade 3
- Questions
- 12
- Time limit
- 45 minutes
- Contest
- May 2026
- Subject
- Mathematics
- School year
- 2025-26
Before you start
- The timer starts when you press Start and runs for 45 minutes.
- Answer the 12 questions in any order; each is multiple choice.
- Your answers are marked as you go. Nothing is saved to an account, so finish in one sitting.
Sample questions
The first and last questions from this paper, with their worked solutions.
Question 1 — Logical Reasoning & Problem Solving
Emma made a friendship bracelet with beads in a repeating pattern shown in the image. Which of the given options could be a part of Emma's bracelet?
- A.A
- B.B
- C.C
- D.D
- E.None of these
Show the worked solution
To find which option could be a part of Emma's bracelet, let's look at the pattern of beads step by step.
Step 1 — Read the image
Looking at the pattern of beads from left to right, we can count and list the shapes:
1. Star
2. Moon
3. Moon
4. Star
5. Moon
6. Moon
7. Star
8. Moon
9. Moon
10. Star
11. Moon
12. Moon
13. Star
14. Moon
15. Moon
This shows a repeating pattern of three shapes: Star, Moon, Moon.
Step 2 — Solve
Let's check each option to see if it can be found in this repeating sequence:
Option (A) shows: Star, Star, Moon, Moon. In our pattern, we never have two stars next to each other, so this cannot be part of the bracelet.
Option (B) shows: Moon, Star, Moon, Moon. If we look at the pattern starting from the third bead (Moon) to the sixth bead (Moon), we get: Moon, Star, Moon, Moon. This matches our pattern perfectly!
Option (C) shows: Moon, Moon, Star, Star. This has two stars next to each other, which is not in the pattern.
Option (D) shows: Star, Moon, Star, Moon. In our pattern, a star is always followed by two moons, not just one. So we cannot have a star, then a moon, and then another star.
Option (E) in the image shows: Moon, Moon, Moon, Star. This has three moons in a row, but our pattern only ever has two moons in a row.
Step 3 — Select
Since Option (B) is the only sequence that can be found in the repeating pattern, the correct choice is B.
The answer is B
Question 12 — Number Sense & Operations
Helena's dogs have 15 more legs than noses. How many dogs does she have?
- A.3
- B.5
- C.6
- D.7
- E.None of these
Show the worked solution
Let's think about how many legs and noses one dog has:
One dog has 4 legs and 1 nose.
This means one dog has 3 more legs than noses (since 4 - 1 = 3).
Now, let's count the difference for more dogs:
1 dog has 3 more legs than noses.
2 dogs have 3 + 3 = 6 more legs than noses.
3 dogs have 6 + 3 = 9 more legs than noses.
4 dogs have 9 + 3 = 12 more legs than noses.
5 dogs have 12 + 3 = 15 more legs than noses.
Since Helena's dogs have 15 more legs than noses, she must have 5 dogs.
The answer is B.
Take the whole paper
All 12 questions, 45 minutes, marked as you go. No account needed.