Why are we excited over at ALOHA Mind Math? Well, this February brings a fun mathematical date February 22, 2022 a palindrome date because 2/22/22 can be read backwards and forwards the same way… AND… it falls on a Tuesday. So we, along with many others, are inviting you to celebrate TwosDay on Tuesday, 2/22/22!

What is a Palindrome?

They are words, phrases, or a sequence of numbers (as will be the case later this February) that read the same forwards and backwards (left to right OR right to left). Palindrome examples include words like – mom, dad, and kayak; or names – Anna and Bob; and phrases Madam I’m Adam.

What’s in a Palindrome Date?

Palindrome days occur when the numbers in the day’s date can ALSO be read the same way forwards and backwards, like the words noted above, as it will be on Tuesday 2/22/22, and since it falls on the second day of the week we’re declaring it TwosDay! (Which for Word nerds is a bit of a homophone – words having the same pronunciation but meaning different things). Folks are writing it several ways – Twos-Day, 2sDay, Twosday, Two’sDay – you can pick your favorite! Another fun fact is that in the U.S. we write it 2/22/22 (month, day, year) and in Europe they write it 22/2/22 (day, month, year) – but any way you slice it – it comes up a palindrome.

TwosDay Inspired Activities

• Try and notice when it is 2:22 in the afternoon on 2/22/22!
• See how many instances of the number 2 or 22 your kids can find at home or at school – point out the digital and analog clocks. At home they can look on a price tag or a receipt, in a recipe book to see where they can find the number 2 or 22. If you are out and about kids can look for 2 or 22 on a license plate in a car ahead of you, on a house number, street or gas station sign. Make it like the game I Spy.
• Practice the times 2 multiplication tables – for a touch of real math work; the times 2 are some of the easiest to do.
• Younger children can also look for things in matched pairs – like mittens, gloves, socks and shoes. Once they’ve run out of things to find, help them imagine other things that are in twos, what will you come up with? What about Twix bars with two in a package, Double Mint Gum or a pair of twins in their classroom?
• I’m not sure if pairs of pants and a pair of glasses count or not – you can decide for your family. I guess they are called a pair – because they have 2 legs or two lenses, respectively. Well, I researched, and it turns out that a pair of pants originally referred to a pair of pantaloons, or pants since the 16th century…because they were two pieces, you put on one leg at a time and secured them at the waist – hence them being called a pair of pants. Shirts were sewn out of one piece of fabric, so even though you have two sleeves – they are not called a pair.
• Similarly, a pair of glasses actually refers to a pair of lenses in one frame.
• For older kids you can also talk about things that are paired together like milk and cookies, a pen and a pencil (a number 2 pencil perhaps?), French fries and ketchup, salt and pepper, shampoo and conditioner and other fun paired items.
• You can also look at the Palindrome names, words and phrases above and see what others you come up with, our you can do an online search for palindrome names and phrases.

Here are a few more ideas for us proud math nerds…since TwosDay 2/22/22 will only happen once in a lifetime… you could help your child create a certificate that they were X year’s old on 2/22/22. Or, for a more involved project, you could create a time capsule together that they could plan to open on 2/22/44 – 22 years in the future.

• The first step is to find a suitable container and label it with both dates – when it was created (and by whom) and when it should be opened.
• Place the front page of the newspaper that shows the day’s date.
• You could take a family photo and have it printed at your local pharmacy or on your own printer.
• You could include some pairs of things they spotted earlier in the day.
• You can also research online the types of things to put in a time capsule.
• One idea to bring writing into the mix, is to have them write a list or a paragraph of some of their favorite things today – favorite games and tv shows or movies, fav (or least fav) foods, teachers, school subjects, and best friends. Then ask them to what they can imagine about themselves on 2/22/44.
• Use this time to tell them something about yourself today – your favorite things, and about you 22 years ago. And have them jot a note about what they learned about their parents today and about your past.

We at ALOHA Mind Math hope you have fun on TwosDay, 2/22/22, and with the day, date and the idea of Palindromes, we certainly are planning to…too!

Written by Cathy Larkin, a freelance writer and social media coordinator, who has been a part of the ALOHA Mind Math team for several years.