Skip Counting

Material

The Bead Cabinet consisting of chains, squares, cubes for the numbers 1 to 10. 

 The color of the beads for each number corresponds to colors of the Short Bead Stair. There are labels for counting. 

1: Short and long chains of 1; one square of 1, one cube of 1. (i.e. four red beads) Red labels: 1 for square chain; 1 for cube chain.  

2: Short and long chains of 2; two squares of 2, one cube of 2. 
Green labels: 1, 2, 4 for square chain; 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 for cube chain. 

3: Short and long chains of 3; three squares of 3, one cube of 3.
Pink labels: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 for square chain; to 27 for cube chain. 

4: Short and long chains of 4; four squares of 4, one cube of 4.
Yellow labels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 16 for square chain; to 64 for cube chain. 

5: Short and long chains of 5; five squares of 5, one cube of 5.
Light blue labels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 for square chain; to 125 for cube chain. 

6: Short and long chains of 6; six squares of 6, one cube of 6.
Violet labels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36 for square chain; to 216 for cube chain. 

7: Short and long chains of 7; seven squares of 7, one cube of 7.
White labels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49 for square chain; to 343 for cube chain. 

8: Short and long chains of 8; eight squares of 8, one cube of 8.
Brown labels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64 for square chain; to 512 for cube chain. 

9: Short and long chains of 9; nine squares of 9, one cube of 9.
Dark blue labels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, 81 for square chain; to 729 for cube chain. 

10: The beads and labels for the short and long chains of 10, previously used.

Presentation

Short Chains (Square Chains)

1. Invite the child to the lesson. 
2. Ask the child to unroll a rug. 
3. Go to the bead cabinet. 
4. Introduce one of the short chains (square), such as six. 
5. Place the short six chain on a tray, as well as its corresponding bead square, and short chain tickets. 
6. Bring the tray to the rug. 
7. Lay the chain on the rug and admire it. 
8. Fold the chain to form a square, admire it. 
9. Superimpose the square on the folded chain, admire it. 
10. Take the square off of the folded chain. 
11. Unfold the chain. 
12. Place the tickets on the rug and ask the child to count and touch the beads, every single one, placing the tickets accordingly.  
13. Ask the child to read the tickets. 
14. Ask the child to read the tickets backwards.  
15. To clean up, start with the tickets, then the rest. 

Long Chains (Cube Chains) 

1. Invite the child to the lesson. 
2. Ask the child to unroll a rug. 
3. Go to the bead cabinet. 
4. Introduce one of the long chains (cube), such as six. 
5. Place the long six chain on a tray, as well as its corresponding squares, cube, and long chain tickets. 
6. Bring the tray to the rug. 
7. Lay the chain on the rug and admire it. 
8. Unfold the chain all the way, admire it. 
9. Fold the chain back up.  
10. Superimpose a couple squares on the folded chain, ask the child to place the other squares; admire it. 
11. Place the cube at the end of the chain. 
12. Take the squares off of the folded chain, and stack them up.  
13. Admire how the stacked squares are the same as the cube. 
14. Place the squares and cube on the rug, out of the way. 
15. Unfold the chain. 
16. Place the tickets on the rug and ask the child to count and touch the beads, every single one, placing the tickets accordingly. 
17. Once the child gets to the end of a segment, such as 36, place a square. 
18. At the very end of the chain, once everything has been counted and placed, place the cube.  
19. Ask the child to read the tickets. 
20. Ask the child to read the tickets backwards.  
21. To clean up, start with the tickets, then the rest. 

Later Activities 

1. Lay square chains alongside one another, so the child may observe similarities, with the red chain top left, aligned left. The Child may place tickets if he wants to. 
2. Short chains can be placed into a concentric arrangement.  
3. See if children can discover other designs and relationships. 

Exercises

Child works independently.

Direct Purpose

Further experience in linear counting. 

Indirect Purpose

Preparation for multiplication tables. 

Age

5

Notes

For the short chains, choose a somewhat long chain, otherwise the presentation will be over too soon and therefore wont be as beneficial. 
The long chains presentation is a combination of the short chains presentation and the 1000 chain presentation.