Counting in twos, threes, fives and tens

When you count, you usually count on in ones.

1, 2, 3, 4…

When you skip count, you count in other numbers, such as twos like this:

2, 4, 6, 8…

Skip counting is a useful skill if you need to count sets of objects, such as pairs of shoes, gloves, the wheels on a tricycle, or even money.

Counting on in twos, threes, fives and tens is easy, if you know your times tables.

Test out your knowledge of counting on in twos, threes, fives and tens with this quiz, then read on to complete the page.

When you count in twos, you could use a number line like this one.

You could also use a hundred square. Can you see a pattern?

Each multiple of 2 in the hundred square has a difference of 2.

Counting in twos is useful if you need to count how many shoes you have in 10 pairs:

There are 20 shoes altogether.

Counting in tens

When you count in tens you could use a number line such as this.

You could also look at a hundred square. Do you see a pattern?

Each multiple of 10 in the grid has a difference of 10.

Counting in tens can be useful if you need to count objects that are in sets of 10.

There are 100 pens altogether.

Counting in fives

When you count in fives you could use a number line such as this.

You could also look at a hundred square. Do you see a pattern?

Each multiple of 5 in the grid has a difference of 5.

Counting in fives can be useful if you need to count objects that are in sets of 5, such as how many fingers are on each hand.

There are 5 fingers (including thumbs) on one hand.

Now look at this picture.

There are 50 fingers and thumbs altogether.

Counting in threes

When you count in threes you could use a number line such as this.

You could also look at a hundred square. Do you see a pattern?

Each multiple of 3 in the grid has a difference of 3.

Counting in threes can be useful if you need to count the number of wheels on a group of tricycles.