The Simplified Classroom: Spring Insects Skip Counting Puzzles

Teaching first grade is amazing because they grow SO much! I know, I'm starting to get all sentimental that my first class ever is moving on to bigger and better... 28 days, but who's counting???

Anyways, I still have a few kiddos who need to work on their skip counting. We've done plenty of skip counting as a whole group during calendar math, but I wanted to give these kids a chance to improve on their own and even have something to keep at home over the summer.

SO.... I whipped up these Spring Insects Skip Counting Puzzles!

All I did was create six different puzzles to help my students practice counting by 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's and 10's. I printed them onto card stock and cut them apart. Then, I showed my students how to use the numbers on the bottom to identify the skip counting pattern and make the picture puzzles!

With my students who still need teacher help, I sorted the puzzles into the piles for them and simply had them work on arranging the six numbers for each pile. I didn't want them to feel overwhelmed with the entire pile since skip counting is something they are still working on.

I also reminded students that all of the puzzles skip count UP and that the numbers would get bigger from left to right. I did this activity with a few students in a small group and I added a set to our math centers for the entire class!

Last, I sent home a set with the students who needed it and added a little note to their families!