Year 2 maths activities

Author
Mhairi Sim

Published
July 2025

Key takeaways

Fun, hands-on Year 2 maths activities support academic success – Engaging maths-based games and activities help to reinforce key concepts and contribute to a positive early maths experience, which is an important factor in future academic success.

Maths learning isn’t confined to the classroom – there is lots of maths learning that goes on in a day-to-day setting, and parents can support this by involving their child in daily maths-based activities.
There are lots of DIY options for at-home maths learning – not only are these options great for kids who love to get creative, but they often won’t cost you a penny!

Table of contents

Engaging Year 2 maths activities really make a difference when it comes to teaching learners key mathematical concepts such as number sense, shape, and basic operations. Having fun and getting hands-on with tricky topics like fractions and money can turn a once anxiety-inducing lesson into something exciting that learners love.

Whether you’re a teacher looking for some exciting new Year 2 maths activities for your class or a parent hoping to get in some additional practice at home, we know your little learners will love the activities we’ve gathered here in this post!

What Year 2 students learn in maths

The Year 2 maths curriculum is packed with new learning for kiddos as well as some consolidation of previous learning from Year 1.

Their curriculum is focused on four key areas:

Number – including place value, operations and fractions

Measurement – weight, height, volume, money, and time

Geometry – 2D and 3D shapes and patterns
Statistics – Simple graphs and charts

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Fun and educational Year 2 maths activities

Maths is a tricky subject for some, but hands-on, game-based learning is a real winner. Here is our list of tried-and-tested Year 2 maths activities that teach and reinforce key maths concepts, broken down by skill!

Number: place value

An essential element of place value learning is partitioning, which is the practice of splitting up a number using place values. For example, the number 23 can be split into 20 and 3, or 2 tens and 3 ones.

1. Place value bingo

Each player has a bingo board with different numbers written as numerals, and the caller will call out numbers with place value language. For example, the number 30 is called out as “three tens”.

2. Use crafting supplies

Beads and pipe cleaners are fantastic resources to help kids visualise what we mean by partitioning and what that looks like for different numbers. Have children pick out a given number of beads and ask them to put groups of 10 beads on pipe cleaners to reinforce the concept that ten ‘ones’ are one ‘ten’. The leftover beads are left loose as ‘ones’.

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Select a year group

Number
Shape, space and measure
Patterns
Number and place value
Addition and subtraction
Multiplication and division
Operations (ASMD)
Fractions
Measure
Shape/geometry
Statistics
Ratio and proportion
Algebra
Probability

Number: addition and subtraction

When tackling addition and subtraction with Year 2 students, it’s always a good idea to use manipulatives to demonstrate the physical element of adding or taking away items.

Different ways to make 20

Try asking your kiddos to use manipulatives to show you different ways to make 20 to build knowledge of these number bonds. They can take 20 items and split them into two groups, then write the maths equation below.

You can use anything as a manipulative – LEGOs, pom poms, buttons, centimetre cubes – whatever you have lying around!

Dominoes

Students select a domino and count the dots on each side, then add or subtract the numbers depending on which aspect they are focusing on. Kiddos can play in groups where the player with the highest (or lowest) number wins the round!

Number: multiplication, division and fractions

This area of learning is one of the trickier elements of the Year 2 maths curriculum, so visual, hands-on activities are crucial for a lot of learners!

Practice repeated addition and subtraction Using concrete materials when practising repeated addition/subtraction is an excellent way to help kiddos understand what is going on when we perform these operations. Show learners that each time we multiply or divide, we are either adding or subtracting the same number each time.

Skip counting games Knowing how to skip count in 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s is an essential skill for Year 2 students to learn in preparation for tackling tricky times tables in the years that follow. Try using some fun skip-counting games and activities as finishing tasks for your kiddos!

Use your students as manipulatives

division

! You can show them the first time, and then challenge them to “share” themselves equally between the areas!

Measurement

In my experience, measurement is the easiest topic to make fun and exciting, as there are so many ways to get creative here, especially with Year 2 maths activities!

Measure and compare classmates’ heights
Cut strips of paper to each learner’s height and have them write their name on it. They’ll then work together to measure and record their height in meters and centimetres on the strip of paper, and order them from tallest to smallest. This also makes a fantastic classroom display to show off their learning!
Make colourful potions
Mix up some coloured water with a few drops of food colouring and create some ‘potion recipes’ (e.g. 50ml of red potion, 20ml of clear potion, and 30ml of blue potion). Your learners can then carefully measure and mix the correct volumes of the ingredients to create the potion!
Estimate and weigh different classroom objects
Show kiddos three objects and three weights in grams (g). Their task is to match up the pairs and then check their answers by weighing each object themselves.

Geometry: patterns and shapes

Shape sorting

This year, it’s all about properties of

2D and 3D shapes

for our learners. Task kiddos with sorting

shapes

by their properties, like number of faces, edges, or

vertices

Play shape detectives

Describe a shape to your kiddos by giving them some of the properties, then let them search your classroom for an item that’s in the shape you’ve described! For added fun, put your kids into teams and turn the game into a race.

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At-home maths activities for parents

Supporting your child with their maths learning at home is easier than most parents think – you’re probably already doing a lot of it without even realising! Let’s take a look at some teacher-recommended at-home Year 2 maths activities.

Everyday maths in the home

Shopping

While you are shopping, ask your child to help you add up how much two items are – remember you might need to simplify the cost a little to help them. If you pay using cash, get your little one involved and ask them to help you count the money.

Cooking When following a recipe, have your child read out the quantities you need and let them get hands-on and help you measure out the ingredients! Ask them what instrument you’ll need to measure different items to encourage them to think independently and problem solve!
Telling time Next time you check the time, take a few seconds to tell your learner what you are doing and show them how you did it. You can also make them responsible for keeping an eye on the clock for specific events. My kids are now very good at letting me know when it’s 4.30 pm and they’re allowed to play some video games!

DIY maths games and tools

A huge part of getting kids engaged with their learning is to make it fun, and what better way to do this than to let them get hands-on and DIY some of their own games and tools?

Paper plate clocks
I have used paper plate clocks with every KS1 and KS2 class that I have taught! For Year 2 learners, they are a fantastic way to learn the hand positionings for telling time to the nearest 5 minutes.
Snack time fractions
Use snack or meal times to explain equivalent fractions. Cut foods like pizza or sandwiches into halves, then quarters and so on, pointing out that one half is the same size as two quarters.
Set up a shop
Use household items or toys to set up a shop that your child can use to learn about money and working out change. Give each item in the shop a price tag and gather some coins and notes to use, then take turns with your child at being either the shop worker or the customer.
DIY balancing scales
One of my favourite DIY Year 2 maths activities is building your own balancing scales! This super simple activity only requires a coat hanger, some string and two plastic cups and provides hours of fun!

Why early math matters

Did you know that early maths ability is one of the strongest predictors of a child’s later academic achievement? There are a few reasons why this is the case:

Early maths encourages the development of transferable skills such as problem solving, logical reasoning, and critical thinking
Cross-curricular links with early maths and subjects including science, design and technology, and reading comprehension
Positive early experiences in maths build confidence and encourage a growth mindset

Early maths learning supports essential and practical life skills like telling the time and working with money

Parents, sign up for a DoodleMaths subscription and see your child become a maths wizard!

Year 2 maths activities

What Year 2 students learn in maths