Skip Counting lays a foundation for multiplication as well as division, and it helps develop number sense. If you want to go beyond our worksheets to teach your students about skip counting, try some of the following hands-on skip counting activities:

SKIP COUNTING BOOKS:

1. Spunk Monkeys on Parade by Stuart Murphy – Count by 2, 3, 4
2. The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang
3. Leaping Lizards by Stuart J. Murphy – Count by 5, 10
4. Eggs and Legs by Michael Dahl – Count by 2
5. Lots of Ladybugs by Michael Dahl – Count by 5
6. Starry Arms by Michael Dahl – Count by 5
7. Sheep Won’t Sleep by Judy Cox – Count by 2, 5, 10
8. Hands Down by Michael Dahl – Count by 5
9. Toasty Toes by Michael Dahl – Count by 10

SKIP COUNTING ACTIVITIES:

1. Roll a Die to Skip Count:
   1. Option 1 – Give your student(s) a die, a sheet of paper, and a pencil. Have them roll the die and, beginning at 0, skip count by the number they rolled. Stop when they have written the first 10 numbers.
   2. Option 2 – Give your student(s) a die, sheet of paper, and pencil. Have them roll the die, and write down the number they rolled. Then, roll the die again and skip count by the 2nd number, starting from the number they wrote down. Example: 1st number rolled is 4, 2nd number rolled is 6. The student should write down 4, 10, 16, 22, 28, 34, 40, 46, 52, 58 (skip counting by 6, starting at 4).
2. Skip Counting Caterpillar:
   1. Use pipe cleaner and different colored beads to make a skip-counting caterpillar. Example: place 2 red beads on the pipe cleaner, followed by 2 blue, then 2 green, and 2 yellow beads. Have the student show you their caterpillar and count by 2s to tell you how many beads they used. You can use any number of beads to skip count by 3, 4, 5, and so on. Students could then turn their caterpillars into bracelets by twisting the pipe cleaner together at the ends.

SKIP COUNT WITH LEGOS:

1. IDEA NUMBER 1:
   1. Explain that skip counting is counting by a number other than one. You can skip count by 2s using 1×2 Lego bricks.
   2. Place one Lego brick in front of the student and ask, “How many studs do you see?” (Lego studs are the bumps that connect bricks together.) They should reply, “Two.”
   3. Put down another 1×2 brick and ask, “How many studs do you see now?” They should reply, “Four.”
   4. Continue placing 1×2 bricks in front of the student, and with each brick ask them how many total studs they see. Once they’ve gotten up to 10 studs, start at the beginning – counting by 2’s and touching each of the five bricks in order as you count.
   5. This can be repeated with 1×3 bricks to practice skip counting by 3’s, 2×2 bricks to practice counting by 4’s, and so on.
2. IDEA NUMBER 2:
   1. Another idea for skip counting by 2’s would be to snap two bricks (of any size) together, and ask them how many bricks they see.
   2. Then snap another two together and ask them how many they see now.
   3. Continue snapping 2 bricks together and placing them next to the groups from before until you get to 10. Then go back and skip count together 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.
   4. This activity can also used to skip count by 3, 4, 5, and so on by continuing to snapping 3, 4, or 5 bricks together.