Teach Your Kids ‘Skip Counting’

There’s more than one way to count to 100. You can take the long way, starting with the number one. Or you can also count by twos, tens, twenties, even fifties to get there faster.

That’s what’s known as skip counting, and it’s a useful concept to teach your children. It can help them increase their fluency in counting and adding sums, and boost their confidence in making transactions with money.

What your kids will learn

In this activity, your kids will learn to skip count. It’s an important skill to master, as it’s the precursor to developing fluency in calculation, number sense, and it’s the basis for multiplication and division—not to mention counting money. Skip counting is a suitable skill for kids in kindergarten through third grade.

Teach your kids about saving and spending

Download the activity sheet

What you’ll need

• Skip Counting Money activity sheet Download and Print [PDF]
• 30 pennies, 12 nickels, 12 dimes, 6 quarters

Instructions:

• Pour the coins onto a table and put them into piles by coin type (pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters).
• Work with your child to skip count using different coins and values.

Talk to your kids

It’s important to talk to your kids to reinforce what they’ve learned. Use these tips to further their learning:

• Ask your child if they notice any patterns (e.g. while counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s).
• Older kids may recognize that skip counting is like multiplying. Help your child make the connection if they are ready.
• If your child has trouble identifying coins by name, name a coin to count and pull one out of the pile. Use the name of the coin often, while extracting it from the pile.
• Repeat this activity with other coin types and values. If skip counting is still shaky for your kids, continue practicing by changing the number of coins they are counting. That will force your children to figure out another total value.