How to teach skip counting

Skip counting is counting in equal steps, such as 2, 4, 6, 8 or 5, 10, 15, 20, instead of by ones. It builds number sense and patterns, and it is the direct runway to multiplication, because counting in 3s is really the three times table.

Start with 2s, 5s and 10s, which have the clearest patterns and are the most useful. Only once those are automatic should children move on to 3s, 4s and 6s. Jumping to the harder steps too early is a common mistake.

Skip counting is usually taught from Kindergarten to Grade 3. Younger children count aloud in 2s, 5s and 10s, while older ones use it to build the times tables and to spot number patterns, counting forwards and backwards from different starting points.

Counting in a number is that number's times table. Four jumps of 5 lands on 20, which is exactly 4 times 5. Making this link explicit, once skip counting is secure, turns a familiar chant into a powerful tool for learning multiplication facts.

It builds number sense, reveals patterns, and lays the groundwork for multiplication, telling time in five-minute steps, and counting money. Seeing the equal jumps, not just chanting them, is what lets the skill transfer to solving real problems.

Often the chant has been memorised without seeing the jumps, so it does not transfer to problems. Only ever counting forwards from zero also limits it. Using a number line or hundred square to make the equal jumps visible, and practising backwards, usually helps.

Yes, and they should. Counting backwards in 2s, 5s and 10s, and starting from different points rather than always from zero, deepens the skill and prepares children for subtraction and for reading number patterns that decrease.