"Find the Path: Skip Counting Forward and Backward by Tens" is a worksheet that invites students to practice counting forward and backward by ten with a puzzle.

Each worksheet page displays a large grid with individual boxes filled with numbers that include tens, hundreds, and thousands. Students start in the upper left-hand box. Then, they move towards the finish box in the lower right-hand corner by counting forward or backward by ten. The instructions inform students whether they're counting forward or backwards, as well as reminding them that the path must remain straight. They cannot take a diagonal path.

For example, on a worksheet where students must count forward by tens, the start box might display the number 79. The box on the right contains the number 72, and the box below contains the number 89. Students write a line connecting 79 with 89, then look at the next two boxes, deciding which way to go until they get to the finish box.

Skip counting is an important skill for students to learn because it can help them solve math problems with large numbers, estimate, and find answers mentally. It can be especially helpful to have students practice skip counting with benchmark numbers like 2, 5, and 10, as they come up more often and are easiest to count by.

Students can write a series of numbers that skip count forward or backward, but puzzles can be an especially effective way to get kids to practice. For example, they could find a path through a maze of numbers, only choosing the next one in a series according to the number they're skip-counting by. Students could arrange a pile of cards in the correct order or fill in the blanks in a series of numbers. Have young students practice with two-digit numbers, while older students can skip count starting with three- and four-digit numbers for a bigger challenge.