Skip Counting by 3s, 4s, and 100s

Skip counting means you add the same number each time you count. Instead of counting by ones ($1, 2, 3, 4$), you skip numbers to count much faster. This is a super important skill because it is the secret trick behind learning multiplication in the future!

Skip Counting by 3s

When you count by 3s, you add $3$ to get the next number. Let's start at $3$ and count up:

$3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30$

If you have a problem like "Count by 3s: 3, 6, 9, ___, ___", you just need to keep adding $3$ to the last number.

• $9 + 3 = 12$
• $12 + 3 = 15$

So, the next two numbers are $12$ and $15$.

Skip Counting by 4s

Counting by 4s works the exact same way, but this time you add $4$ to get the next number. Let's start at $4$:

$4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40$

Think of animals with 4 legs, like dogs. If you have 5 dogs, you can skip count their legs to find the total: $4, 8, 12, 16, 20$ legs!

Skip Counting by 100s

Counting by 100s might sound like a big jump, but it is actually one of the easiest ways to skip count! You just change the hundreds digit by $1$ each time, while the tens and ones stay as zeros. Let's count all the way to $1,000$:

$100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000$

Notice how the first number counts up like normal ($1, 2, 3, 4...$) and you just say "hundred" after it! This makes counting large groups of items, like blocks or pennies, incredibly fast.