Fun Ways to Practice Times Tables (That Children Will Actually Do)

The short answer: do not start at the 1 times table and grind to 12. Learn the easy tables first, use what a child already knows to reach the hard ones, and practise in 60-second bursts rather than long sessions. There are far fewer facts to memorise than it looks.

Understanding first, speed second

Before memorising, a child should see that 4 × 3 means four groups of three — rows of chairs, wheels on cars, eggs in a box. Children who memorise without that picture get stuck the moment a word problem appears. Ten minutes with objects on the table saves months of confusion later.

The order that makes it easier

• Start with 2, 5 and 10. Most children already half-know them from counting.
• Then 4 (double the 2s) and 8 (double the 4s). Doubling turns two tables into free ones.
• Then 3, 6 and 9. The 9s have the finger trick and the digits that always add to nine.
• Finish with 7, then 11 and 12. By this point, most 7 facts have already appeared in other tables.

Point out that 6 × 7 and 7 × 6 are the same fact. That halves the list on its own, and it visibly cheers children up.

Six ways to practise that are not a worksheet

1. Sixty seconds, standing up

One minute of rapid questions while the toast browns. Short and frequent is what builds instant recall; long sessions mostly build resentment.

2. Skip counting out loud

Count 3, 6, 9, 12 while walking to school or bouncing a ball. Rhythm does a lot of the remembering.

3. Beat the parent

You answer slowly and wrongly on purpose sometimes. Being faster than an adult is deeply motivating.

4. Dice or cards

Two dice, multiply them, keep the points. Or turn over two playing cards and race. Randomness beats reciting in order, because real questions never come in order.

5. Find the fact in the room

Six chairs with four legs. Three packs of five pens. Ask for the total, not the sum.

6. Track only the ones that are missing

Write out the grid and cross off everything already known. The remaining handful is usually about a dozen facts, and seeing that is a huge relief for a discouraged child.

Where the online practice fits

Repetition needs to happen dozens of times, and there is a limit to how many times a parent can cheerfully ask what 7 × 8 is. Our free multiplication game handles the drilling with instant feedback, and the maths learning module puts it alongside addition, subtraction and fractions so tables sit inside the bigger picture rather than floating alone. For everything pitched at this stage in one place, see the Ages 10–12 hub.

If it has become a battle

Stop testing for a fortnight and only play. A child who has decided they are bad at maths will not learn anything until that belief loosens. Then restart with the tables they already know, so the first week is nothing but wins.

The bottom line

Build the picture, learn the easy tables first, use doubling and swapping to shrink the list, then practise in tiny bursts and let a game do the repeating.