What Comes Between? Number Worksheet for Kids
This worksheet targets a specific numeracy skill, finding the number that falls between two given numbers, which requires children to hold two values in mind and mentally place a third between them. For ages 4-5, this 'in-between' reasoning is more demanding than simply counting forward and strengthens the mental number line that underlies later subtraction and comparison skills.
Part of the pack
Month 7: Preschool Skills Through Play | Ages 4-5Curriculum
How to use this worksheet
Look at the two numbers written on the first pair of balloons together, reading them aloud and noting how far apart they are. Ask your child to figure out what number comes between the two, encouraging them to count up from the smaller number if needed. Have your child write that missing number on the blank balloon between the two given numbers. Repeat this process for each remaining balloon pair, checking each answer together by counting through the full sequence aloud.
Materials needed
- Pencil
- Eraser
Extension activities
- •Create new 'what comes between' problems using number cards, laying two down and asking your child to find the missing middle number.
- •Practice with real objects, like arranging three stacks of blocks with the middle one covered for your child to guess.
- •Play a number line hopping game, physically stepping between two numbers taped on the floor.
- •Ask 'what comes between' questions with larger gaps, like between 10 and 20, to build a related but more challenging skill.
- •Turn it into a guessing game where you say two numbers and your child has to guess the missing one before you count together.
Tips for parents and teachers
If your child struggles, model the strategy of counting up slowly from the smaller number and stopping just before the larger one, since simply staring at the two numbers is unlikely to reveal the answer to a 4- or 5-year-old. This is a noticeably harder skill than sequential counting, so expect some numbers to require more time and patience than others. Celebrate correct answers enthusiastically, since successfully reasoning about a missing middle number is a real cognitive achievement at this age.
Written by
Hemsweta Jain · Teacher Cheena
MBA and Early Childhood Educator, teaching since 2014 · Founder of RaisoActive, Mumbai
Every RaisoActive worksheet is designed and checked by the founder before publishing.
Published · Last reviewed
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