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Watch: How to count in 2s

Let's begin with a practical exercise involving counting in twos.

For more help and advice with Maths watch this Teacher Talk video.

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Example 1

Here is number 7 on a number track.

A number line from 1 to 10, highlighting number 7 as significant.

How much is 2 more than 7?

How much is 2 less than 7?

A number line from 1 to 10 where number 7 is highlighted and arrows labelled 2 more and 2 less.

9 is 2 more than 7.

5 is 2 less than 7.

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Example 2

Here is number 16 on a number track.

A number line from 11 to 20 where the number 16 is highlighted.

How much is 2 more than 16?

How much is 2 less than 16?

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Counting in pairs

There are 2 shoes in a pair.

Can you count how many shoes there are below?

Seven pairs of shoes presented in a number line.

Count them in twos:

2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14.

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Top tip

Top tip

Instead of counting up in twos, you can multiply by 2, which is a more efficient way of doing the same calculation.

Counting in twos gives you the two times table.

So, 7 pairs of shoes is the same as

7 x 2 = 14 shoes

Top tip
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Activity 1

Practise counting up in twos from 0 to 40.

02468101214161820
22242628303234363840

Remember, when counting in twos the last digit is always 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8.

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Activity 2

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Karate Cats Maths game. game

Train with the Karate Cats to become an expert in addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, place value and more!

Karate Cats Maths game
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More on Multiplying and dividing

Find out more by working through a topic