Twenty-Two TWOSDAY Activities for Your Primary Classroom
Who doesn’t love the opportunity for a fun theme day?! This year, February 22nd falls on a Tuesday, making the date 2-22-22, otherwise known as TWOS-day! This day presents an opportunity to fill the day with fun, educational, two-themed activities. Here I have compiled a list of 22 ideas for incorporating the number two into your day. (This post contains Amazon affiliate links.)
1. Make a list of things that come in twos.
Eye, ears, feet, and shoes–these are things that come in twos! Have your students brainstorm a list of things that come in pairs. This can be a shared writing anchor chart activity that targets whichever phonics skills you’re working on (or reviewing) or can simply be a quick mental warm-up! Singing “Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” to start this activity will get the wiggles out and the mental juices flowing.
2. Practice counting by twos.
If you haven’t introduced counting by twos to your students, now’s a good time. If they already have experience with this skill, you can practice skip counting further! There are many counting by twos songs on Youtube that range from catchy to calming. Here are a couple of my favorites.
You can find several counting by twos pages in my Twos-Day Activities pack on TPT.
3. Practice AABB patterns.
This skill ties in nicely with counting by twos. After making an AABB pattern with manipulatives or drawings, students can count the objects or pictures by twos. Grab these completely free pattern templates for students to practice coloring AABB patterns! (If you do these on Monday 2-21-22, you could make them into a quick banner to decorate your classroom for Twos-day. Kids love to see their work on display!)
4. Make bead bracelets or necklaces.
Add some fine motor work by having students string pony beads on laces to make AABB patterns. Students can count their beads by 2s when they finish! You can find pony beads here.
5. For more fine motor work, make patterned paper chains!
Pre-cut two colors of construction paper in strips. Let students work on making AABB patterns (a great center!) and then connect all the chains together to decorate the classroom. You can find a center directions sheet for paper chains in my Twos-Day Activities pack on TPT.
6. Read a book about Tuesday.
Tuesday by David Wiesner and The Dragons Eat Noodles on Tuesdays by John Stahl are both fun choices.
7. Make a Twos-day crown.
Have students create their own crown or use the template in my Twos-Day Activities pack on TPT.
8. Explore ways to show the number two.
Have students brainstorm places they see the numeral two and ways they can show two using math tools (their fingers, ten frames, dominoes, dice, links, etc.). If you have a document camera, that can be a good way to display the representations students come up with. You can also make a big 2 on an anchor chart and write/draw ways to show two there. (If your students need some inspiration in their brainstorming, Jack Hartmann has them covered!)
9. Take a look at the number 22 as well!
Exploring ways to represent 22 is a great chance to dig into place value. If your students are ready for bigger numbers, you can work with showing twenty-two as two groups of ten and two ones. Use base ten blocks, ten frames, chain links, or connecting cubes to give hand on practice. My Twos-Day Activities pack also includes resources for exploring the numbers two and 22.
10. Take a movement break by playing elbow tag!
This fun game brings Twos-day out to recess! Elbow tag, also called partner tag, has students link elbows in pairs. Learn how to play here.
11. Make a drawing out of the numeral two.
Write the numeral 2 with a black marker in the middle of a sheet of paper (not too big) and have the students draw to turn the number into something else. My Twos-Day Activities pack includes a PowerPoint/Google Slides e-book to offer inspiration to students. You can turn the final drawings into a book to add to the classroom library!
12. Practice reading two-letter words.
Project or display a list of two-letter words. Depending on the level of your students you might simply practice reading the words, look for patterns within the list, or practice reading the list within a certain time frame (e.g. How many words can you read in 22 seconds?) This website has several fun timers to project for timing challenges!
13. Write a list of two-syllable words.
Practice counting syllables in words. Have students contribute words (including names) that have two syllables to add to a chart.
14. Add doubles.
If your students have already been introduced to the concept of addition, Twos-day is a great time to introduce or practice adding doubles! If you can get your hands on it, the book Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong is a wonderful tie-in to adding doubles. My Twos-Day Activities pack also includes doubles dot flashcards and a few doubles worksheets for practice.
15. Watch one of these fun videos about the number two.
16. Teach about the differences between two, to, and too.
Because these three spellings and meanings are each fairly common, to, two, and too present a nice opportunity to introduce homophones to students. Here’s a free little poster you can use!
17. Teach some common idioms that include the word two.
Several idioms include the word two. Teach one or more of these and have the students make connections to life experiences. Here are some you might want to use:
-One step forward, two steps back
-Two wrongs don’t make a right
-Two heads are better than one
-My two cents
-In two shakes of a lambs tail
-Like two peas in a pod
(My Twos-Day Activities pack includes a writing template for “two peas in a pod.”)
18. Do brain break exercises in sets of 22.
Get some energy out by doing jumping jacks, arm circles, stretches, and other simple exercises in sets of 22.
19. Make up funny tongue twisters.
Brainstorm a list of words beginning with T and have students use those words to create their own “Two” tongue twisters. They can challenge their friends to say their twister “two times fast!”
20. Read books about pairs and the number two.
Here are some books to look for:
The Missing Pairs by Yvonne Ivinson
A Pair of Socks by Stuart J. Murphy
One is Not a Pair by Britta Teckentrup
Two by Kathryn Otoshi
21. Parade around the classroom marching two by two.
If the children have had the chance to make patterned bracelets or necklaces and crowns, they can dress up for a little Twos-day parade. Have them count by twos as they march!
22. Make Twos-day structures using 22 cups.
Divide students into groups or pair. Give each group 22 plastic cups and challenge them to create an interesting structure.
I hope these TWOS-day ideas will make your planning a little easier! Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments to share with everyone. Happy teaching!
Adorable Great Ideas
Awesome!!
Thank you for the activities! I do (somewhat) casual homeschooling with my 2 & 4 year olds. Now I have a perfect list to do tomorrow. I especially love the free elephant to/two/too poster and the pattern '2' to color. Thanks!
This is interesting. Love it. Thank you for the help.
Lovely!
Your idea with the cups is out of the box thinking and I love it! Thanks!