Skip Counting Worksheets

What is skip counting?

Skip counting is counting in equal jumps instead of in ones: 3, 6, 9, 12 rather than 1, 2, 3, 4. It is the bridge between counting and multiplying, because a child who can count by 4s already knows the four times table without having called it that. It is also the skill behind counting coins, reading a clock face in fives and grouping anything that comes in packs.

Every step, in more than one format

The step is only half of what makes a sheet. Counting by 5s in a row of linked boxes, along a number line, across a hundred chart, under groups of objects and through a maze are five different tasks that happen to use the same numbers, and children who have stalled on one of them often move straight through another. The sequence pages come forwards and backwards, starting on a multiple and starting somewhere awkward, because a child who has memorised 5, 10, 15 has to actually add once the run begins at 23.

Where it leads

Counting in steps is how the times tables are learned before they are drilled, so this set sits directly under our multiplication worksheets and pays off again in the division worksheets. It grows out of plain counting: if a child is still counting scattered objects one at a time, start with our counting worksheets and come back. The hundred chart pages pair well with the posters in our number charts collection, and the whole set belongs to our math worksheets.

Frequently asked questions

What grade is skip counting taught in?

Counting by 2s, 5s and 10s is kindergarten and first grade work, the 3s, 4s and 6s through 9s land in second grade alongside early multiplication, and 25s, 50s and 100s arrive with money and place value in second and third grade. Ages 6 to 10 covers the whole set, and the steps can be taken in any order.

Why start a count somewhere other than zero?

Because starting on a multiple lets a child recite instead of calculate. A run that begins at 23 and goes up by 5s cannot be sung, so the child has to add, and that is the moment skip counting turns into something useful rather than something memorised.

Are these free to print for a class?

Yes. Every PDF prints at 100% scale on US Letter or A4, and copies for a classroom, a homeschool, a library or a tutoring session are free and unlimited with no sign-up. Selling the sheets or re-uploading them elsewhere is the only thing that is off limits.