These general number patterns encourage the children to look carefully at the differences between the numbers in the sequence, and use that information to work out what comes next, or to fill in the gaps. The worksheet here can be printed and photocopied, and the answers are listed below:

1) A very simple pattern, involving repeated addition of one (one times table) ... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2) Another simple pattern, involving repeated addition of two (two times table) ... 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

3) Repeated addition of five (five times table) ... 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

4) Doubling each time ... 1 2 4 8 16 32 64

5) Adding one more each time ... 1 2 4 7 11 16 22
i.e. 1 + 1 = 2, 2 + 2 = 4, 4 + 3 = 7, 7 + 4 = 11, 11 + 5 = 16, 16 + 6 = 22

6) Halving each time ... 1600 800 400 200 100 50 25

7) Adding three each time ... 8 11 14 17 20 23 26

8) Halving each time ... 8 4 2 1 1/2 1/4 1/8

9) Adding 22 each time ... 12 34 56 78 100 122 144

10) Repeated pattern ... 0 15 30 0 15 30 0