Number Analogies for Kids — Carry the Rule to a New Number (Grades K–3)
Number analogies for kids in grades K–3: see how 2 becomes 4, then carry the same rule to a new number. Free, untimed practice, no login.
Understanding number analogies
A number analogy shows your child how one number turns into another, then asks them to make the same thing happen to a different number. You see that 2 becomes 4 and 5 becomes 7, and the question is what 3 becomes. Nothing states the rule out loud. The child has to notice it — each number gains two — and then carry that rule across to the new number. That noticing-and-carrying is the reasoning; the small addition at the end is just how you show your work.
This is different from a math worksheet, even though numbers are involved. A worksheet asks "what is 3 plus 2?" A number analogy never states the plus two. It demonstrates the rule with an example pair, hides it, and trusts the child to recover it. So the thinking runs backward from ordinary arithmetic: instead of being handed an operation and doing it, the child studies two finished examples, works out what happened, and applies it. In the Counting Plains the numbers stay small — nothing above about twelve — so a five- to eight-year-old is never stuck on the counting and can spend all their attention on the rule.
Finding a rule from an example and transferring it is exactly what the Quantitative battery of the CogAT samples with its own number-analogies items, and it appears on the NGAT as well. But the skill is bigger than any screener. Spotting a rule from a couple of cases and applying it to a new one is the shape of a great deal of later reasoning, from science to spreadsheets. The number-analogies examples below start with a plain add-two rule and branch into doubling and taking away.
Key Idea
This is different from a math worksheet, even though numbers are involved. A worksheet asks "what is 3 plus 2?" A number analogy never states the plus two. It demonstrates the rule with an example pair, hides it, and trusts the child to recover it. So the thinking runs backward from ordinary arithmetic: instead of being handed an operation and doing it, the child studies two finished examples, works out what happened, and applies it. In the Counting Plains the numbers stay small — nothing above about twelve — so a five- to eight-year-old is never stuck on the counting and can spend all their attention on the rule.
Seeing it in action
Worked example
You see two finished pairs: 2 becomes 4, and 5 becomes 7. What does 3 become?
Compare each pair. 2 to 4 is a gain of two, and 5 to 7 is also a gain of two, so the hidden rule is "add two."
Carry that same rule to the new number: 3 and two more is 5.
Try a few
2 becomes 4, 5 becomes 7, so 3 becomes …
the rule adds two.
1 becomes 2, 4 becomes 8, so 3 becomes …
the rule doubles.
9 becomes 7, 6 becomes 4, so 8 becomes …
the rule takes away two.
3 becomes 4, 7 becomes 8, so 5 becomes …
the rule adds one.
Ready for the interactive room?
Practice number analogies in the free Practice Lab — six puzzles, no login, calm explanations.
Common questions
Are these number analogies just addition practice?
No. Addition practice hands you the operation and asks for the answer; a number analogy hides the operation and asks you to find it first. The reasoning is in recovering the rule from the example, not in the counting, which is why the numbers stay small.
Where can I find number analogies worksheets and practice?
The rooms here are interactive number-analogies practice, and the "Try a few" list works as read-aloud number-analogies questions you can use anywhere. Paper number analogies worksheets exist elsewhere too; the difference here is a calm explanation of the rule whenever a child misses one.
Is this a number analogies test?
No, there is no timer and no score. A number analogies test measures the skill under pressure; this builds it first, six untimed items at a time, with the rule explained on every miss.
Want a printable set too?
Get the free Reasonwell sample pack — printable reasoning and test-prep material.