Which numbers can the dots use?

1 to 10, 1 to 20, 1 to 30 or 1 to 50, counting by 2s to 50, by 5s to 100, by 10s to 150, or the alphabet from A to Z.

Where do children start?

At the green dot, at the top of the picture. The numbers go round clockwise, and every number sits just outside its dot.

Is there an answer key?

Yes. The answer key shows the finished outline in red, with the colour picture it was drawn from.

Which pictures are there?

An apple, a pear, a heart, a star, a moon, a house, a fish, a duck, two dinosaurs, a butterfly, a mushroom, an umbrella, a pumpkin and a ghost.

Dot to Dot Printables: Count to 10, 20 or 50, Skip Count and A to Z

Counting with a picture at the end

Dot to dot practices number order: children have to find what comes next, again and again, and the picture only appears if they get it right. Skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s and the A to Z pages use the same idea for times tables and the alphabet.

Pick a level

1 to 10 and 1 to 20. Junior Infants and Senior Infants.
1 to 30 and 1 to 50. Senior Infants and 1st Class.
By 2s, 5s and 10s. 1st and 2nd Class, before times tables.
A to Z. Alphabet order for any age.

More puzzles

For a hidden picture made with colours, try colour by number. Number tracinghelps children who are still learning to write the numbers.

Irish curriculum links

InfantsNumeration and counting: knowing the number before and after a given number, without counting from one, is a counting skill named for Stages 1 and 2.
1st–2nd ClassSkip counting in twos, fives and tens is on the Numeration and counting continuum, and the 2s, 5s and 10s pictures practise it.
Fine motorDrawing a steady line from dot to dot builds the pencil control that early handwriting relies on.

The NCCA’s own home-learning ideas for numeration and counting suggest puzzles such as join the dots, next to games like Snap and Connect 4. That makes a dot to dot a sensible thing to send home, with the answer key kept back for checking.

The pumpkin and ghost pictures suit the run-up to the Halloween mid-term break at the end of October, when a calm, self-checking task is welcome.

Summarised in our own words from the Primary Mathematics Curriculum (2023) and the NCCA Mathematics Toolkit.