Counting to 1000

Counting all the way to 1000

You already know how to count to 100. Counting to 1000 uses the very same idea — you just keep climbing. It looks like a giant number, but there is an easy path. Once you see how hundreds work, 1000 stops being scary. It is tidy and full of patterns, just like smaller numbers.

In this lesson you will count in ones, in tens, and in hundreds. You will see how big numbers are built from groups, and you will learn the fast way to reach 1000.

Numbers come in hundreds

Small numbers travel in groups of ten. Big numbers travel in groups of a hundred. Here are the groups on the way to 1000:

• 1 to 100 — the first hundred
• 101 to 200 — the second hundred
• 201 to 300 — the third hundred
• and so on, all the way up to 901 to 1000

Each group is a new "hundred". When you finish one group, you start the next. The tricky moment is always the jump at the end of a hundred — from 199 to 200, or 499 to 500. The trick is the same as before: when you reach a "ninety-nine" number, the next number starts a brand new hundred. If you want a reminder of how the tens work first, visit our lesson on counting to 100.

The counting words

Listen to the names as you count near a new hundred:

two hundred and ninety-seven, two hundred and ninety-eight, two hundred and ninety-nine, three hundred.

Do you hear it? The "two hundred" part stays the same while the end counts up. Then we swap to a new hundred ("three hundred") and start again. Every hundred works exactly this way. So once you can count through one hundred, you can count through them all.

Counting in hundreds

Here is the super-fast way to reach 1000. Instead of counting every number, count only the hundreds:

100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000.

That is just 10 big jumps to reach 1000! Counting in hundreds is like riding an elevator instead of climbing the stairs. Say it out loud and stamp your foot on each number. It has a strong, steady beat.

Jump	Number	Hundreds so far
1	100	one hundred
2	200	two hundreds
3	300	three hundreds
5	500	five hundreds (half of 1000!)
10	1000	ten hundreds

Three ways to make 1000

The number 1000 can be built in three neat ways. They all make the same amount:

• 10 hundreds — 100, 200, 300… up to 1000.
• 100 tens — 10, 20, 30… all the way to 1000 (that is a long count!).
• 1000 ones — counting one at a time (the longest count of all).

This is why counting in bigger groups is so handy. The bigger the group, the fewer jumps you need.

Worked example 1: counting on

Count on from 497. What are the next three numbers?

Say 497, then keep going: 498, 499, 500. Notice the jump from 499 to 500 — we finished the four-hundreds and started the five-hundreds.

Worked example 2: counting in hundreds from a number

Start at 250 and count on in hundreds three times.

250, 350, 450, 550. Each jump adds one hundred. Only the hundreds digit changes; the tens and ones stay the same.

Worked example 3: how many hundreds, tens and ones?

Look at the number 365. It has 3 hundreds, 6 tens and 5 ones. The 3 means 300, the 6 means 60, and the 5 means 5. Put them together: 300 + 60 + 5 = 365. Breaking numbers apart like this is the secret to every big number. You can dig deeper in our lesson on place value with tens and ones.

Why counting to 1000 matters

Counting to 1000 opens a big door. Once you can do it, you can:

• Count large piles of coins, beads or stickers in groups.
• Read and understand big numbers you see every day, like house numbers and prices.
• Get ready for adding and taking away with bigger numbers.

Counting in hundreds is also the start of bigger times tables. When you say 100, 200, 300, you are really saying "one hundred, two hundreds, three hundreds" — that is multiplying by a hundred!

Try it yourself

1. The hundreds hop. Count in hundreds — 100, 200, 300 — and clap each time. Can you reach 1000 in ten claps?
2. Carry on counting. Start at 196 and count in ones: 196, 197, 198, 199, 200. Did you make the jump smoothly?
3. Build a number. Use buttons or blocks. Make 3 piles of one hundred, 6 piles of ten, and 5 single ones. What number have you built? (It is 365!)
4. Spot the hundred. Choose any number, like 472. Which hundred is it in? (The four-hundreds, between 400 and 500.)

Practise a little each day. Soon counting to 1000 will feel as easy as counting to 100.