Skip counting and multiples: patterns to look for
Skip counting means counting in jumps of the same size: 5, 10, 15, 20. The numbers you land on are the multiples of 5. Skip counting is the bridge between counting and multiplication, because three jumps of 5 is the same as 3 × 5.
Patterns by jump size
- Twos: every multiple ends in 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8, which are the even numbers.
- Fives: the ones digit alternates 5, 0, 5, 0.
- Tens: the ones digit is always 0 and the tens digit goes up by one each time.
- Threes: the digits of each multiple add up to a multiple of 3 (for example 27: 2 + 7 = 9).
- Nines: up to 90, the tens digit goes up by one while the ones digit goes down by one (09, 18, 27, 36…), and the digits always add to 9.
On a hundred square
Colour the multiples of a number on a 10 × 10 hundred square. Multiples of 10 make a column on the right. Multiples of 5 make two columns. Multiples of 9 make a diagonal that slopes down to the left, and multiples of 11 slope down to the right. Asking a child to predict the shape before colouring is a good way to start a conversation.
Practise counting backwards in jumps too. 40, 35, 30 is division in disguise.
Continue the pattern
Write the next numbers in each pattern, then answer the last question.
- 3, 6, 9, ___, ___
- 45, 50, 55, ___
- 90, 81, 72, ___
- Is 84 a multiple of 3? How can you tell?
Show answers
- 12, 15
- 60
- 63
- Yes: 8 + 4 = 12, which is a multiple of 3 (84 = 3 × 28).
Keep learning
Comparing and ordering numbers with < and >A step-by-step method for comparing whole numbers of any size, how to remember the inequality signs, and ordering practice with answers.Rounding to the nearest 10 and 100Rounding with a number line, the halfway rule, and why rounding is useful for estimating and checking answers.Square and triangular numbers: building shapes from blocksBuild square and triangular numbers with blocks, spot how they grow, and discover how two triangles make a rectangle.