If you are a kindergarten teacher or have students who are in kindergarten, you will want to check out our fun and free skip counting game! It’s perfect for counting in 2’s, 3’s, and 5’s. Plus, it’s so much fun that kids will never even realize they’re learning! Give it a try today! At some point in kindergarten, your students must start learning to skip count. This skill is vital as it lays the foundation for many other math concepts. Skip counting can be tricky for some kids, but with some practice, they will get the hang of it in no time!
How to teach skip counting
One of the skills kindergartners learn is skip counting. This skill of counting by groups is an important next step for not only counting faster, but laying the foundation for future math like multiplication. Sometimes it can be daunting to figure out where to start – how to teach skip counting. But we’ve got lots of information on what is skip counting, clever ways to teach the concept with songs, activities, and free printable skip counting game to practice skip counting in 2s, 3s, and 5s.
Skip Counting Game
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What is Skip Counting
What is skip counting? Skip counting is a way of counting by numbers other than 1 in math. We continue adding (or subtracting) the same number each time to the last number as we skip counting.
For example, if we’re skip counting in 2s, we would say 2, 4, 6, and 18. Notice how we are just adding 2 each time to the previous number?
Most of us learn to count by adding one number at a time. However, skip counting can be helpful when we want to count larger numbers faster. This would include counting by twos (fives, tens, and so on).
Why Is Skip Counting Important?
In the early years, skip counting is an important skill to develop. It helps students start to see the many patterns in our number system. It also lays an excellent foundation for building their number sense and learning about multiplication facts!
Learning counting in 2’s, 3’s, and 5’s comes in handy for everything from addition to multiplication to division problems.
Skip counting may be used for various things, but here are the most important ways it may assist you. It can help you:
- Count larger numbers faster
- Learn your multiplication facts.
However, skip counting also lays a solid foundation for loads of mathematical functions, including
- Division
- Work with fractions
- Prime and Composite Numbers
- Identifying different number sequences and patterns
It also helps develop math fluency as skip counting speeds up many mathematical processes in our heads when working with numbers.
How to Teach Skip Counting
There are many ways that you can practice skip counting with your students. As always, providing various activities and games is essential to keep your students engaged in learning.
Here are some skip-counting activities that you can use in your kindergarten classroom:
Skip Counting Songs
I love using songs to help my students retain information! I find that they are much more likely to remember a song than just a list of facts. And, once they learn a song, they can often recall it for years. Plus, it’s just plain fun! Some excellent skip-counting songs are available free on YouTube that are perfect for teaching youngsters. Here are a few of my personal favorites.
All the kids love to move and groove with Jack Hartman! He’s got a whole lot of energy, which he uses to teach kids counting in 2’s
Jack Hartman also has one for counting by 3’s
Count by 5’s from zero to one hundred with this fun song that features a fun dog and space theme.
Count forward and backward by 10’s is another catchy song by Jack Hartman.
Use Skip Counting Games At Circle Time
Skip Count and You Are Out
Kids LOVE games! This simple game needs no materials and can be played anytime. Stand in a circle. Pick a student to start you off. Tell the children that you will counting in 2s to 40. The first person says two, and the next person says four, and you continue going around the circle, counting by 2’s until you reach 40. The person that ends up saying 40 sits down. Keep playing until only 1 person is left standing. Try the same game, counting by 5’s or 10’s to 100.
Counting in 2s Game
Kids love games, and a free printable game is perfect for practicing skip counting with your students. Print out the game boards and let your students have fun while they learn! We’ve made three games to practice counting in 2’s2’s, 3’s3’s, and 5’s. To play, just print out the game boards. We’ve also included some number charts with the skip number highlighted in green. These are valuable tools for kids that need a little help.
Counting in 5s game
Materials Needed
- Free printable game (see below)
- Color printer
- White Cardstock
- Dice
- Playing pieces- you can use anything you have handy such as buttons, mini erasers, or small Lego blocks
- Laminator (optional)
Now print the board and chart you need. Laminate for durability if you like. That’s it; you’re all prepped!
Counting in 3s game
The board game is almost the same except for the numbers. We also have a different animal for each game.
- Students roll the die and move along the board, saying the numbers. When they get to a space with a flower, they must fill in the missing number.
- If they fill in the number correctly, they can continue moving. If the player forgets, or can’t fill in the number correctly, they miss their turn. This means they go back to where they started on that turn.
Hint: Early learners may find it hard to keep track of how many squares they have moved when they say the numbers on the squares. Have the children roll the dice and count the number of squares with their finger. Then they keep their finger on that spot and move the game pieces while saying the numbers on the squares.
Students can play in pairs or small groups, so they can help each other.
Skip Counting Activities
Try these fun, skip counting activity ideas to make practicing counting by 2, counting by 3, counting by 5, and counting by 10 fun!
- Free Printable Skip Counting Puzzles 2s-10s or Famous Landmarks Skip Counting Puzzles, Where in the World Skip Counting Puzzles, Monster counting by 4s, Summer Skip Counting Puzzles, Winter Skip Counting puzzles, Thanksgiving counting puzzles, festive Christmas Skip Counting or Christmas Skip Counting Puzzles)
- Printable Kite Skip Counting Craft
- Dab the Turkey Math Counting by 10s
- Clip Cards: Counting by 2s and counting by 3s clip cards, bunny skip counting by 2 activity, Count by 3s Halloween math for kindergarten, penguin skip counting strips, animal Counting in 2s and 3s
- or holiday Kindergarten Christmas math activities
- Free Printable Smores Skip Counting Activities
- Printable Skip Counting Activities completing the Sundaes
- Skip Counting Lacing Plates Activity (self-checking)
- Oregon Trail Themed Skip Counting Game
- Hands-on skip counting activities with craft sticks – great visual!
- Pumpkin seed counting activity
- Free Printable Skip Counting Board Game
Skip Counting Worksheets
- Skip Counting Chart Worksheets 1s-15s
- How to teach skip counting with songs, activities, and a counting in 2s, 3s, and 5s game
- Skip count to complete the connect the dots constellations worksheet pdf
- Follow the Path Skip Counting Worksheets
- Polar Animals Skip Counting Worksheets
- Fun Skip Counting Mazes
- Holiday themed – Christmas Skip Counting Worksheets, Fall Math Worksheets to practice skip counting
- Vegetable Skip Counting Dot to Dot Worksheets
- Under the Sea Skip Counting Dot to Dot
- Free Skip Counting Visuals
- Skip Counting Worksheets – counting by 1s to 15s
- Free Printable Skip Counting Posters 1-12 or these skip counting printables posters 1-15s – fantastic visual for elementary age students
Math Activities for Kindergarten
Looking for more early math activities to make learning to count, add, shapes, and more FUN? Check out these free resources:
- Hoppy Frog Math Game (addition within 10 and addition to 20)
- Goldfish Kindergarten Subtraction Games
- Blowing Bubble Math Worksheets
- Smores Free Kindergarten Math Worksheets
- Hands-on Estimation for Kindergarten Activity
- Snowball Sorting Odd and Even Math Activities
- Bug Measuring Kindergarten Worksheets
- Roll to 100 Counting Game
- Flower Shape Kindergarten Math Crafts
- Kids will have fun as they color and learn with these Ordinal Number Worksheets
- Spring Kite Skip Counting Craft
- Pirate I Spy Worksheets
- Engaging, Reusable Kindergarten Math Worksheets pdf
Maths Worksheet for ukg
- Crack the Code Worksheet Pages for Kindergarten and first graders
- Insect Telling Time Puzzle to the hour and half hour
- Free Printable Coin Worksheets – color by coin
- Cute Skip Counting Puzzles – huge pack of free skip counting games
- Dog and Bone Addition Activity for Kindergarten
- Fun Hundreds Chart Battleship
- Geoboard Activities
- Watermelon Kindergarten Math Activities
- Months of the Year Activities – learning sequencing with craft sticks
- Tic-Tac-Toe Printable Addition Games
- Dinosaur Theme Kindergaten Math Worksheets
- What Comes Next Kindergarten Math
- Free Ice Cream Math Worksheets
- Sandcastle Subtraction Craft – free printable math craft to solve, cut, and paste
Counting in 2s 5s and 10s game
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