Concept 1 of 7
Skip Counting: Jumping in Steps
Today's big idea
Skip counting is adding the same jump over and over without starting again.
Equal jumps along a line are what a times table looks like before you learn it.
How it works
👀 What's going on?
Counting 1, 2, 3 all the way to 200 works, and it takes forever. Jumping in equal steps gets you there in a fraction of the time. It is also the thing your times tables are secretly made of.
💡 Here's the trick
Look at the jumps above. Every hop is the same size, so you are adding the same number again and again without starting over. Count in fives and you are reciting the five times table. Count in tens and you are reading a price list.
🪄 How to do it
- 1.Pick your step size and find your starting number on the line above.
- 2.Add that step to get the next number.
- 3.Keep adding the same step, never changing it halfway.
✍️ Try it
Count on in 25s from 175 for three jumps. Then count on in 100s from 2,860 for three jumps.
From 175 the jumps give 200, 225 and 250. From 2,860 they give 2,960, 3,060 and 3,160. The second one crosses a thousand, and the step never changes because of it.
⚠️ Watch out
You might be thinking counting in fives always means the numbers end in 0 or 5. That is only true if you started on a 0 or a 5. Start at 43 and counting in fives gives 48, 53, 58, which never lands on a round number at all.
🌟 Why this matters
Reading a clock in five-minute steps, counting ten-rupee notes, reading a ruler, spotting what comes next in a pattern: all of them are equal jumps.
Exam tip: Series questions are skip counting in disguise, so find the step and the rest is quick.
Watch me solve one
Quanta solves it
“Watch how I think through one of these — then you try.”
THE PROBLEM
“Skip counting by 25s from 150: 150, 175, 200, ___. What comes next?”
- 1
Look at the gap
From 150 to 175 is a jump of +25. From 175 to 200 is another +25. So every jump is +25. 🐸
- 2
Add one more jump
Take the last number (200) and add 25 again: 200 + 25 = 225
- 3
Answer ✓
The next number is 225
Now you try one — same steps, different story 👇
See it in action
⚡ Time to play!
Hop the frog forward. Each jump adds 5 — watch the next number appear where it lands.
SKIP · ROUND 1 OF 3 · JUMPING BY 5
OUR COUNT
45, …
Quick check
✅ VERIFICATION
Skip counting by 5s from 45: 45, 50, 55, ___. What comes next?
⚡ Finish the activity above first to answer.
Keep going!
Up next: Speedy Tables
6 × 7 = 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 = 42.