Number Patterns Teaching Resources
Explore number patterns in your maths classes this school year with fun worksheets, games and more teacher resources created to help your students understand how numbers in a sequence relate to one another.
Aligned with the Australian Version 9.0 maths standards, the printable and digital activities in this collection were created by the maths teachers on the Teach Starter team to help you save time on your lesson plans.
Whether this is your first year teaching about number patterns or you're just looking for a little extra help, we've got you covered. Read on for a primer from our teacher team! We explain what number patterns are so you can share with your class, plus we explore three common patterns.
What Are Number Patterns? A Kid-Friendly Definition
A number pattern is a series of numbers that each follow the same rule. These patterns or sequences can help us find missing numbers or identify what number will come next in a series.
For example, let's say you are given the following list of numbers:
- 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24
This is an example of a number pattern in which the next number in the series is 4 more than the previous number. Once you can identify the pattern in a series of numbers like this one, you can then use that pattern to determine what number comes next or even what numbers could have come before the list began.
This is one of the many reasons number patterns are an important part of building our students' algebraic reasoning skills. They help kids understand how numbers can be related to one another and apply what they know about those relationships to solve problems.
3 Common Types of Number Patterns
We can't talk about number patterns without breaking down the different types your students are going to encounter in their maths journey!
Linear Patterns
Linear patterns are number patterns in which the numbers increase or decrease by the same amount each time.
The example used above — in which each number in the series increased by a quantity of 4 — is a simple example of a linear pattern.
Geometric Number Patterns
Another type of pattern students may have to contend with is the geometric number pattern. This type involves numbers that are multiplied or divided by a constant factor.
The multiplication table is an example of a geometric number pattern.
Recursive Patterns
Students will have to make full use of their understanding of the four whole number operations to work with recursive patterns. That's because this pattern involves finding each successive number in the sequence by performing a specific operation on the previous number(s).
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Skip Counting Worksheets (Complete the Series)
Use this set of skip counting worksheets to check student understanding of skip counting in increasing intervals of 5, 10 and 100, by finishing a series.
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Counting by 5's Maze
Get to the party by skip counting to 100 with our counting by 5’s worksheet.
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Prime and Composite Numbers Poster
A poster to help students learn the vocabulary associated with prime and composite numbers.
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Number Patterns PowerPoint
A 12 page editable PowerPoint presentation to use as part of a numeracy lesson when teaching place value and number patterns to younger students.
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Odd and Even Properties Student Cheat Sheet
Help students remember the properties of odd and even numbers with this student cheat sheet.
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Skip Counting by 2,3,4,5 and 10 Board Game
Have students correctly answer problems involving skip counting and multiplication to be the first to lay down 4 game pieces in a row!
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Number Sequencing 1 to 20 - Worksheet
A monster themed place value worksheet to use when identifying the missing numbers in a sequence.
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Hundreds Boards with Missing Numbers - 1-100 and 101-200
A set of 12 hundreds boards worksheets with missing numbers.
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Odd and Even Numbers PowerPoint
A 23 slide editable PowerPoint template to use when introducing odd and even numbers to younger students.
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Patterns and Algebra Worksheets - Year 5
4 patterns and algebra worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Odd and Even Cut-and-Paste Worksheet
Engage students in practising their knowledge of odd and even numbers with these simple cut-and-paste worksheets.
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I Spy Odd and Even Number Worksheet
Practise determining odd and even numbers of objects with this fun scavenger hunt worksheet.
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Skip Counting Worksheets for International Dot Day
Use this cute caterpillar themed worksheet for your students to practise and improve their skip counting skills!
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Ten More, Ten Less Task Cards
A set of 24 task cards to enable students to practise identifying ten more and ten less than a number.
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Number Sequencing to 1 000 - Worksheet
A place value worksheet to use when sequencing numbers to 1 000.
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Skip Counting by 2s Dominoes
A set of dominoes to use in the classroom when skip counting by 2s from 0 to 100.
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Ada Lovelace - Cut and Paste Shapes and Patterns Activity
A cut and paste activity for young students exploring shapes and patterns with the female programmer, Ada Lovelace.
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Cartesian Plane Poster
A poster that explains the features of Cartesian Planes.
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Complex Dot-to-dot – Skip Counting by Twos (Car) – Worksheet
A complex dot-to-dot where students demonstrate skip counting by twos.
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Charts of Odd and Even Numbers Up to 500
Encourage your students to identify odd and even numbers with this set of number charts up to 500.
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Odd and Even Numbers Poster Set
Help students memorise the rules for identifying odd and even numbers.
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3 x Simple Dot-To-Dot Worksheets - Counting By Ones
3 fun dot-to-dot worksheets to use when learning to count by 1s.
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Complex Dot-to-dot – Skip Counting by Twos (Seahorses) – Worksheet
A complex dot-to-dot where students demonstrate skip counting by twos.
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Guided Maths Groups – National Numeracy Learning Progression – Task Cards
A set of 32 task cards with activities for tracking student progress along the numeracy learning progression.
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Dot-to-Dot Drawing - Numbers by 5 - Robot
Join the dots and numbers to make a picture.
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Dot-to-Dot Drawing - Numbers by 2 - Frog
Join the dots and numbers to make a picture.
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Dot-to-Dot Drawing - Numbers by 1 - Elephant
Join the dots and numbers to make a picture.
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Skip Counting by 5s Dominoes
A set of dominoes to use in the classroom when skip counting by 5s.
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Odd and Even Word Problems
Extend students with these odd and even number word problems and worksheets.
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Odd and Even Number Games
Practise identifying odd and even numbers in this fun set of game boards.
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Divisibility Rules Brochure Template
Learn and apply the rules of divisibility by completing this maths brochure template.
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Roll and Colour Worksheet for Ten More, Ten Less
Use this interactive worksheet to help students practise finding the number that is 10 more and 10 less than a given number.
- Number Patterns Worksheets
- Number Patterns Games
- Number Patterns Posters
- Number Patterns for Preschool/Kindergarten
- Number Patterns for Foundation Year
- Number Patterns for Year 1
- Number Patterns for Year 2
- Number Patterns for Year 3
- Number Patterns for Year 4
- Number Patterns for Year 5
- Number Patterns for Year 6
- Number Patterns for Year 7