Counting to 20

Mathematics · Counting & Cardinality · ages 5-6

Name ______________________ Date ____________

You are about to count a set of objects. What number should you say for the first object?
- 0
- 2
- 12
- 1
Nia touches every star once and says one number for each, starting at 1. Her last number is 20. How many stars did she count?
Answer: ______________
Count the stars. How many are there?
- 13
- 14
- 15
When you count every object once, starting at 1, the last number tells how many objects there are.
Circle one: True False
You need to count out 18 cubes. You have moved 17 into the new pile. What number should you say when you move the last needed cube?
Answer: ______________
While counting objects, you say 12. What number should you say for the next object?
- 13
- 12
- 15
- 11
You counted 8 scattered buttons. You find one button you had not counted. What is the new total?
Answer: ______________
Zoe counts these buttons but loses track and counts some twice. What should she do?
- Count them all again, slowly
- Guess how many there are
- Add two more to her first count
Sam starts at 1 and counts these 16 blocks in number order. He skips one block and counts every other block once. What number does he say last?
- 16
- 17
- 15
You need 19 counters and have counted out 16. How many more counters do you need?
Answer: ______________

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

1 · Begin at 1 so the first object receives the number 1.
20 · Every star received one counting number. The last number, 20, gives the total.
14 · Counting each star once gives 14 stars.
True · The last number in a careful count is the total.
18 · The next cube gets 18. That reaches the target.
13 · The next number after 12 is 13.
9 · Give the new button the next number after 8: 9.
Count them all again, slowly · Restarting and counting each button once is a useful way to check.
15 · Only 15 blocks receive numbers, so Sam's count ends at 15.
3 · Count new counters for 17, 18 and 19. That is 3 more.