Skip Counting by Threes

Learning to count by 3 is fun and challenging! It helps kids develop their number sense and see patterns in numbers.

We love these skip counting by 3 songs

Our kid’s favorite way to learn skip counting is with songs. He loves singing, and memorized how to count by 3s without really thinking about it. These are our favorite ones.

Practice counting with objects

One of the easiest hands on way to learn skip counting is by grouping objects together and counting.

We did this with pasta. Is it just my kid who loves anything pasta related?

Print and cut out this count by three puzzle

This is a fun and simple counting puzzle that you can print out at home. I love making these types of learning activities for my kid because they work on several skills at once:

• Practice skip counting by three
• Scissors skills
• Glue fine motor skills

Worksheets to practice skip counting by threes

I made these three worksheets for my kid to practice skip counting by threes. Even though the songs helped him memorize how to do it, these worksheets helped him visualise the numbers.

You can download both worksheets together below.

Practice skip counting by threes to sixty

This worksheet lets kids fill in the missing numbers as they count by three. We completed this worksheet as we listened to the songs above.

Fill in every third number in this hundreds chart

The cool thing about filling in the hundreds chart is seeing the patterns form. You can see:

• The diagonal pattern form across the chart
• The need to skip 2 numbers between writing each number

Make a count by 3 number line

I forgot to take a picture of our count by three number line, but we like to make number lines when learning skip counting.

There’s nothing complicated about it, but it’s a fun and easy activity.

Making number lines lets kids practice:

• Scissors skills
• Taping fine motor control
• Writing numbers

Simply cut up wide strips of construction paper, tape them together to make a long strip. Then, on the strip, simply write the numbers across counting by threes.

Once the number lines are done, they often become belts, paths, ramps during playtime!

Here is a tricky questions to take it further

If you have 24 of the same item, how many groups of three does that make?

To find out, gather 24 small items (duplo pieces, sticks, marbles). Put them into groups of 3. How many groups do you have?

If you have 15 of the same items, how many groups of three does that make?

To find out, gather 15 small items (duplo pieces, sticks, marbles). Put them into groups of 3. How many groups do you have?