Counting By Fives and Tens

Sometimes the concept of counting by fives and tens can be a little bit difficult to grasp at first.
I like to teach counting by tens first. I find that it is easier to teach after exploring the tens and ones column and explaining how, when counting by tens, the number in  the tens column changes as though you are counting.
It all makes perfect sense to me.
My daughter just looked at me like I was from another planet.
Um... ok... on to plan B.
After all, when homeschooling, we always have to have a plan B right? What works for one kid doesn't necessarily work for another. I was surprised this time though. My daughter is really good at math. I can give her a page of addition or subtraction, and she is back five or ten minutes later with all of them done correctly. Those same pages would take a couple of my other, more reluctant children (read: kids who thought math was the most boring, torturous thing on the planet) , half the day to do when they were younger. I guess my 7 year old just likes math.  You won't hear me complaining!

So, why is counting by fives and tens so difficult, then?
I don't know, but plan B better work.
Only thing is... um... I didn't have a plan B this time.
I didn't think I'd need it.
Then it hit me! A visual!


She completed her pages in her math book, but she was still not 100% confident.
I wanted to make a couple of charts for her to refer to and practice with.
I figured that I would use nickels and dimes as pictures... you know... two birds with one stone...
And since I was making them, I figured I would learn how to use Google Docs and put them on here to share with you, too! (Just make sure you click the text below if you want to print or view them).

Click here for the Tens Worksheet                    Click here for the Fives Worksheet

Would you like the same worksheets, but with blank spaces under the coins, so that your child can fill them in his/herself? Here ya go:

Click here for a blank Tens Worksheet            Click here for a blank Fives Worksheet

These should work. If you have any problems accessing them, please let me know and I will do my best to figure it out.

How do/did/will you teach counting by fives and tens? I need more ideas, and I'd love to hear yours!