Number pattern worksheets
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Number patterns
Grade 4–5
Find the missing term in a number pattern that follows a rule
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In teaching order
Number patterns worksheets, easiest first
Each sheet assumes the one above it is comfortable. Start where your child is, not at the top.
A simple way through number patterns
The move a child practices here is simple and powerful: look at what changes from one term to the next. A sequence that grows by the same amount each time (2, 4, 6, 8) follows an adding rule; one that shrinks the same amount each time follows a subtracting rule; one that grows by the same factor (2, 6, 18, 54) follows a multiplying rule. Naming that change is exactly the reasoning that later becomes function rules and algebraic expressions.
Why this order works
The blank sits inside the sequence, not at the end, so a child cannot simply continue the pattern — they have to run the rule in both directions and check the missing term fits its neighbors. That two-way check is what separates spotting a pattern from truly understanding it.