OxBox Math & Number Activities for 2 Year Olds​!
Math is not only about numbers!  Learning about shapes, sizes, and opposites are all important classification skills that lay the foundation for elementary math.

Model correct counting practices with your child by touching one object and saying one number at a time.  Encourage your child to count the same way to develop one-to-one correspondence.
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Your child should be sorting items by shape, color, and size.  Help them point out which is the biggest, smallest, tallest, shortest, etc.

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“TEN LITTLE DINOSAURS” ​
.  COUNTING  .  .  PRE-READING SKILLS  .    
  • Enjoy this silly counting book with your child!  Read each page. 
  • Count the dinosaurs, pointing to each one as you say the number.  This promotes one-to-one correspondence which is very important when learning to count.
  • Play “I Spy” on each page.  For example, “I spy a green dinosaur!”
  • Ask comparison questions: which dinosaur is the biggest? Which is the smallest?

BONUS ACTIVITY
Act out the stories! Find all the rhyming words in the book.  Rhyming is a very important pre-reading skill.  Don’t forget to practice your best dinosaur roar!
This is such a fun book series. The dinosaurs are colorful and silly, just like your two year old!

Pirate Shapes


.  MOTOR SKILLS  .   .  PROBLEM SOLVING  .    .  GEOMETRY  .
  • Mix all the shapes in the middle.  Practice naming and identifying shapes as a warm up for the game.  Ask your child to find a triangle, or hold up a circle and ask your child to name it.
  • Follow the game instructions for some shape fun!
  • This can also be an individual activity! Have your child match the shapes to boards on their own.  Start with one board and the corresponding shapes before gradually adding more shapes and boards for a bigger challenge.
  • Make it more difficult by counting the sides of the shapes.

BONUS ACTIVITY
Look for shapes around the house and the neighborhood.  Draw your own pictures using shapes.
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Shape Stacker


 MOTOR SKILLS   COUNTING  . GEOMETRY    .ORDERING  
  • This is a great toy for introducing multiple math skills! Practice identifying the shapes (concentrate on the circle, squares, and triangle).  Show your child one shape and have them find the ones that match.  
  • Start practicing counting.  Touch one block and say ‘one.’  Have your child repeat.  Then move on to counting two, making sure to touch each one as you say the number.  Gradually move up the numbers but don’t go too fast that your child feels frustrated.

BONUS ACTIVITY
Don’t be limited to sorting by shape!  Is there another way you can sort the blocks?  Try putting the blocks together by color instead!  Be creative in thinking of new ways to sort.
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Mom and Baby Puzzle


LANGUAGE .   CLASSIFICATION    MOTOR SKILLS   
  • Observational skills are important for developing mathematicians!  Lay out the puzzle pieces and name the animals on them. Start with just four pieces that make two matches to avoid frustration.  Help your child match the mama animal to the correct baby.    
  • As your child becomes more comfortable with the puzzle gradually add more options at a time until they can find the pairs when presented with all the pieces at one time!

BONUS ACTIVITY
Does your child have a favorite animal pair?  Go to the library and find a book about that animal or look on YouTube for videos of the animal.  This helps develop vocabulary and connects playing to the wider world!
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OxBox Math Ideas

Here are some great ways to practice math at home:
  • Count everything in your daily life- 1 sock, 2 socks. 1,2,3,4 steps.  Saying the number as you touch each item builds one-to-one correspondence.  Don’t worry if your child can’t count independently, listening to counting helps too! 
  • Sing number songs.  Some of our favorites are on the next page.
  • Compare sizes- who has the biggest cookie?  Which flower is the smallest?
  • Sort! Can you put all the dolls in one pile and all the books in another?

Math Poems

Act out these fun songs to build math, language, and rhyming skills!
  • “Five green and speckled frogs sat on a speckled log. Eating the most delicious bugs- Yum Yum!  One jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool.  Then there were four green and speckled frogs- Glub glub!” (repeat each verse until there are no frogs left!)
  • “Five little monkeys jumping on the bed.  One fell off and bumped his head. Mama called the doctor and the the doctor said- No more monkeys jumping on the bed!” (repeat each verse until there are no monkeys left!)
  • “One, two, buckle my shoe. Three, four, shut the door.  Five, six, pick up sticks.  Seven, eight, don’t be late.  Nine, ten, do it again!”