Skip Counting for Kids: A Parent Guide

By Oded Deckelbaum · Published October 31, 2026

What is skip counting?

Skip counting means counting by a number other than 1, like 2, 4, 6, 8 or 5, 10, 15, 20. It makes counting big groups faster. It is also the bridge to multiplication: counting by 5s four times lands on 20, which is 4 × 5.

What age do kids learn skip counting?

• Kids skip count by 2s, 5s and 10s in grades 1 and 2, around ages 6 to 8. In grade 2, the US Common Core asks them to skip count by 5s, 10s and 100s within 1,000.
• In grade 3, around ages 8 to 9, skip counting turns into the times tables.

See the games that fit Common Core 2.NBT.A.2.

Every game below shows its grade range. The catalogue starts at grade 1, so kindergartners do best with the gentlest games and a grown-up nearby.

How the games teach skip counting

A frog hops along lily pads that count by 2s, 5s or 10s, and the child taps the pad that fills the gap. A snake bites the number that comes next in the count. On a hundred chart, moving down adds 10 and moving across adds 1. Later, a tower game turns the same counting into times tables shown as rows of dots.

Good places to start:

• Count-By Cove (Grades 1–2): A frog crosses a cove on numbered lily pads that skip-count by 2s, 5s, and 10s — tap the pad that fills the gap.
• Skip Trip (Grades 1–3): Hop a frog across lily pads, skip-counting by 2s, 5s and 10s — each tap jumps by the skip size to land on the next, missing, or total number.
• Skip Snake (Grades 1–2): Steer the snake to bite the number that comes next — counting on by 1s, then skipping by 2s, 5s and 10s — and watch its body grow into the count.
• Hundred Chart Hunt (Grades 1–3): Slide a marker around the 1–100 chart — down is 10 more, across is 1 more — to hunt down the number.
• Times Table Tower (Grades 2–4): Each fact lights up as a rows×columns dot array — skip-count it, dial the product, and ride the elevator up.

3 things to do at home

1. Count pairs by 2s: socks, shoes or hands at the table. "2, 4, 6, 8, how many hands?"
2. Count fingers by 5s with the whole family, or count dimes by 10s.
3. Color every 5th number on a printed hundred chart. Ask your child what they notice about the colored columns.

All 10 free skip counting games for young kids

Free, no ads, no sign-up. Each card shows its grade range.

• 🐸Count-By CoveGrades 1–2A frog crosses a cove on numbered lily pads that skip-count by 2s, 5s, and 10s — tap the pad that fills the gap.Play
• 🌼More Less MeadowGrades 1–2Tap a cube for one and a rod for ten to build one-more, one-less, ten-more, and ten-less with base-ten blocks.Play
• 🐍Skip SnakeGrades 1–2Steer the snake to bite the number that comes next — counting on by 1s, then skipping by 2s, 5s and 10s — and watch its body grow into the count.Play
• ✋Tally TowerGrades 1–3Count tally marks — gates of five plus the leftovers — and find the biggest count.Play
• 🔢Hundred Chart HuntGrades 1–3Slide a marker around the 1–100 chart — down is 10 more, across is 1 more — to hunt down the number.Play
• 🐸Skip TripGrades 1–3Hop a frog across lily pads, skip-counting by 2s, 5s and 10s — each tap jumps by the skip size to land on the next, missing, or total number.Play
• 🌸Pattern GardenGrades 2–3Every flowerbed grows by a rule — plant the petals for the next row and water it in; rule-stones and two-step magic rules wait deeper in the garden.Play
• 🗼Times Table TowerGrades 2–4Each fact lights up as a rows×columns dot array — skip-count it, dial the product, and ride the elevator up.Play
• 🔢Sequence SprintGrades 2–4A robot conveyor belt rolls numbers past — spot the pattern and stamp the missing crate before it rolls off.Play
• 🕵️Number DetectiveGrades 2–4Clues arrive one at a time — stamp out every number each clue rules out until a single suspect remains, then make the arrest.Play

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