Year 2 Explaining, convincing and proving

Vincent and Tara are making triangles with the class construction set. They have a pile of strips of different lengths. How many different triangles can they make?

In this town, houses are built with one room for each person. There are some families of seven people living in the town. In how many different ways can they build their houses?

We have a box of cubes, triangular prisms, cones, cuboids, cylinders and tetrahedrons. Which of the buildings would fall down if we tried to make them?

Can you sort these triangles into three different families and explain how you did it?

You have a set of the digits from 0 to 9. Can you arrange these in the five boxes to make two-digit numbers as close to the targets as possible?

What score can you get on the add and take-away path?

Shapes are added to other shapes. Can you see what is happening? What is the rule?

What happens when you add two odd numbers together?

This ladybird is taking a walk round a triangle. Can you see how much she has turned when she gets back to where she started?

How could you estimate the number of pencils/pens in these pictures?

You'll need a collection of cups for this activity.

Here is a selection of different shapes. Can you work out which ones are triangles, and why?

Order these four calculations from easiest to hardest. How did you decide?

Which two items of fruit could Kate and Sam choose? What would it cost?

Noah saw 12 legs walk by into the Ark. How many creatures did he see?

Explore ways of colouring this set of triangles. Can you make symmetrical patterns?

In this activity, shapes can be arranged by changing either the colour or the shape each time. Can you find a way to do it?

How many balls of modelling clay and how many straws does it take to make these skeleton shapes?

As you come down the ladders of the Tall Tower you collect useful spells. How many can you collect?

Choose four numbers to put in the squares so that the differences between joined squares are odd.

How many legs do each of these creatures have? How many pairs is that?

If there are 3 squares in the ring, can you place three different numbers in them so that their differences are odd? Try with different numbers of squares around the ring. What do you notice?

In how many different ways can you break up a stick of seven interlocking cubes? Now try with a stick of eight cubes and a stick of six cubes. What do you notice?

This game involves addition and subtraction skills combined with some strategic thinking.

Can you place these quantities in order from smallest to largest?

How would you create the largest possible two-digit even number using the digit you're given?

What happens when you add three numbers together? Will your answer be odd or even?

In these addition games, you'll need to think strategically to get closest to the target.

Are these statements relating to odd and even numbers always, sometimes or never true?

Four bags contain 1s, 3s, 5s and 7s. Can you pick ten numbers from the bags so that their total is 37?