Skip Counting
Math Concepts
Skip counting forwards and backwards
Materials
None
Players
Whole class or smaller groups
Set up
Break the class into groups, or work together with the whole class. Assign a leader for each group to start things off.
Play
The leader picks a starting number, a number to skip by, and the choice of going up or down.
For example, the leader might start at 3, skip by 5’s, and go up. In this case, as you go around the circle you should hear: 3, 8, 13, 18, 23, …
As another example, the leader might start at 67, skip by 3’s, and go down. For this, you should hear: 67, 64, 61, 58, 55, 52, …
Goal
Take a break from quieter activities and have fun getting good at skip counting.
Discussion and Tips
Skip counting provides a wonderful foundation for multiplication and division. It is also great practice for basic addition and subtraction.
Having a visible number chart or number line can be a big help to students who are developing their skills with skip counting.
While speed and automaticity are important goals, avoid putting undue pressure on anyone. Avoid anxiety and keep it fun!
Variations
Easy Start: When you first start doing this with a group, build confidence by starting at 0 when going up or by starting at an even multiple of the skip number when going down.