The worksheet titled "Find the Next Number in the Pattern" gives students a fun, engaging, and visual way to practice finding the next number in a pattern.

Each worksheet features 4 different number lines that go from 0 to 12. At the top of each number line is a picture of a person, like a ballerina, or a critter, like a frog, jumping along and landing on different numbers. The pattern of their jumps is shown as dotted half circles above the number line so students can see which numbers they have landed on. Based on the pattern of their jumps, students write the number that the person or creature will likely jump to next. For example, a frog jumps on the numbers 0, 2, 5, 7, and 10. Based on the pattern, students would write the number 12 on the line as the next number the frog will jump to.

Recognizing number patterns is an important math skill that helps students develop their logical thinking skills, in addition to building a foundation for algebra concepts. You can start very simply with skip counting, allowing students to see the patterns that arise when counting by twos, fives, and tens.

Even very young students can guess the next number in a sequence when given a visual aid. For example, numbers on a number line could be circled, and students can predict which number comes next. Once students get the hang of it, you can give them a list of numbers without a number line. For example, you can give them the sequence 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and they can write the next numbers in the sequence (11, 15, etc.).

Ask students to see if they can recognize a pattern to encourage critical thinking skills. In the above example, the ones digit repeats in the same pattern, regardless of the digit in the tens place.