Skip Counting - Count by 8s

💡Tips for Parents

▸ Why It Matters Eights are double the fours (which are themselves double the twos), so a child who's already comfortable with either of those earlier worksheets has two different shortcuts available for tackling this one, instead of memorizing a brand-new sequence from scratch. Many children find the 8s intimidating just because the numbers climb quickly and don't line up with an easy real-world image the way 2s (pairs) or 5s (nickels, fingers) do. Framing 8 as "double 4, which is double 2" turns an unfamiliar, fast-growing sequence into something built entirely out of doubling, a skill your child has likely already practiced. This groundwork also pays off later: the 8 times table is one of the harder ones to memorize by rote, and children who understand it as repeated doubling tend to recall it more reliably than those who only memorized it as an isolated list. ▸ Getting Started Have your child count by 4s first as a warm-up, then double each answer to get the count by 8s (4 doubled is 8, 8 doubled is 16) — framing it as "double the fours" rather than a new pattern makes the path from 8 to 80 much less intimidating. Say the pairs out loud together as you go, such as "4 doubled is 8, so the next one is 8 doubled, which is 16," so your child hears the reasoning, not just the answer. It can also help to physically write the 4s sequence on scratch paper first, then double each number underneath it — turning an abstract mental leap into something your child can see and check line by line. ▸ If They Get Stuck If a blank like 24, 32, 48, 64, or 72 stumps them, have them find the nearest given number (8, 16, 40, 56, or 80) and add 8 step by step, or double the matching 4s-count number if they remember it. For example, to find the blank after 16, your child can add 8 once ("16, 24") rather than counting all the way from the very start of the path. If neither approach clicks, fall back to counting up from 0 by 1s in groups of 8 and circling every eighth number — slower, but it rebuilds the underlying idea when the shortcuts feel shaky. ▸ Praise Points Praise your child for spotting that every answer here is even and specifically a multiple of 4 — noticing that connection to the 4s and 2s worksheets they've already done shows they're building one connected number sense, not four separate memorized lists. If your child starts doubling numbers automatically, without being reminded to, treat that as a real milestone: it means the doubling strategy has become a tool they reach for on their own, not just a trick you taught them for this one page.

🎯What This Worksheet Builds

Counting by 8s (8, 16, 24, 32...) doubles the 4s pattern, which itself doubles the 2s pattern — making this worksheet a good check for whether a child truly understands doubling as a strategy rather than just memorizing a fixed list of numbers. Because every answer is a multiple of 4, this practice also reinforces multiplication readiness: skip counting by 8s is essentially reciting the 8 times table forward, so a child who masters this pattern here will recognize those same numbers instantly when multiplication facts are introduced in later grades.

👉Next Step

If stuck, have them count by 4s first and double each number aloud before writing it down, since saying the reasoning out loud catches mistakes before they're written. Once mastered, move to Skip Counting by 9s, using the finger trick to build confidence with a trickier number — 9s don't have the same convenient doubling shortcut as 8s, so this next worksheet will ask your child to lean on a different strategy entirely.