What is on each sheet?

A box of scattered pictures to count, a picture graph or tally chart to fill in, and three questions: how many of one picture, which has the most, and how many more one has than another.

Which is harder, the graph or the tally?

The picture graph is easier: one square for each picture. Tally charts add grouping in fives and writing a total, which suits Year 1 and Year 2.

Do the questions have one answer?

Yes. Every picture has a different count, so “the most” always has one answer.

Can each child get a different sheet?

Yes. Choose 5, 10 or 25 versions; every version has different pictures and counts.

Pictogram and Tally Chart Worksheets: Count, Graph and Tally

From counting to data

Graphs start with counting, then turn the counts into something you can compare at a glance. These sheets do both on one page, then ask questions that need the graph to answer.

Talk about the graph

Ask which bar is tallest and how they can tell without counting, and what a new picture would do to the graph.

In the New Zealand Curriculum

Year 1Sorting answers into groups, recording them with tally marks and simple picture graphs, and talking about the most and least common.
Year 2Tallies, tables, picture graphs and dot plots, then choosing which statement best answers the question.
Year 3Planning questions, collecting data, and adding bar graphs.

In the refreshed curriculum, statistics starts with a question children want answered. After a sheet, do it for real: ask the class one question with a few answers, such as how they got to school today, and record it with tallies on the board.

Year 1 fits the picture graph, and Year 2 the tally chart and its questions. The maker does not draw dot plots or bar graphs, so use squared paper for the Year 3 step.

Summarised in our own words from the New Zealand Curriculum: Mathematics and Statistics, Years 0–8 (in effect from 2025), and the Ministry of Education’s year-by-year guide for parents and whānau.