Skip counting by 5s using hand prints

Another way to practice counting by 5s (or 10s as well) is using these hand prints we created. They are available for you to download for free by clicking here. You can print them on card stock or regular paper and laminate.

Here is how we used them:

We had the sticky notes up in our reading room. The boys laid out their hand prints in front of the sticky notes and practiced counting by 5s while looking at the sticky notes. When they felt comfortable enough they stopped looking at the sticky notes. 

I also had them jump from card to card while counting out loud.

 

 Here is another way these hand prints can be used. Have the kids lay them out in front of them and give them some snap blocks and have them build towers using five of the blocks.

Here is what they will end up with. Have them count by fives. 5 fingers equals 5 blocks. If they need explanation, you can use the blocks to count 5+5 = 10... if you add 5 you will end up with 10 blocks/fingers. That is why 5 is followed by 10 in skip counting by 5s. Have fun!

Skip counting books

It took a while to find skip counting books that would be fun and easy for the kids to follow.
So to make your life easier, we included those that we used here for you.

Skip counting using sticky notes

This is a fast and fun idea to use while teaching skip counting. Get a stack of multicolored sticky notes and a poster board. Use one color for the numbers that you are skipping therefor that you don't see, and use the other color for the numbers that you are actually saying out loud. We are skip counting by twos all the way till 20 so it all worked out nicely in two rows of 10 notes - 5 being invisible numbers and 5 visible.

I use this method for practicing skip counting after I already explained it to them and read them some books on that topic. 

 

We used the same activity for skip counting by 5s and 10s. I had the kids switch the sticky notes themselves and they LOVED that! We didn't only say the numbers out loud, I also removed one of the numbers and they had to figure out which one was missing by repeating the skip counting in their head. We also stood up, faced the numbers, and read them out loud while jumping. For more advanced, you can turn around and say them without looking (watch for the mirror on the opposite wall, that I forgot about but the boys didn't :-D ). Have fun skip counting!

Skip counting socks

 We used this activity while we were learning skip counting by two. I started by explaining to the boys that skip counting by two is like counting pairs of something. Ask how many feet they have? How many hands or eyes? Tell them that having two of something means you have a pair - pair of hands or pair of eyes. We tried to find other pairs around us (shoes, ears, knees...) And that is when I pulled out the socks! We are counting till 20 so I had 10 pairs of socks for them to hang on the clothes line.

Everytime they pined a pair to the line, they would skip count from the beginning all the way to the one they just pinned.

 

They thought this was such a funny idea ;-)

Skip counting by 2's

We kicked off the school year with skip counting by 2's. Here is a little activity to help the kids to get familiar with the new way of counting.

Use permanent marker to write the numbers on the bottom of an egg carton. The little kids are learning letter M this week so we used M&Ms for this activity, but you can use rocks, marbles or any other similar object you have around your house.

Have the kids place two objects in each spot and have them skip count while doing it.

When they finished, we emptied the egg carton and did it again. This time, when they filled the spot, they started skip counting from the beginning only to the last filled spot. And when they filled the next spot, they started counting again.

 At the end they all got a little M&M treat!