Games for multiplication facts practice are always a winner in the classroom.
If a child is given the option of:
A. practicing their multiplication facts with a worksheet – columns of times tables to answer or;
B. using games to practice their multiplication facts;
what are they going to choose?
It’s a rhetorical question really. We all know the answer.
Practice the multiplication facts separately
Give your students time to learn each set of multiplication facts. It’s best not to introduce each set of facts in numerical order so start with the easiest facts first.
I’ve always used this order to teach the facts – 0 & 1s (I do these together), 2s, 5s, 10s, 9s, 3s, 4s, 6s, 7s, 8s, 11s, and 12s. By the time your students are introduced to their 12s facts they only have 12 x 12 to learn.
Why? The commutative property of multiplication states that the order of the factors doesn’t change the product.
When your students understand this, they know that two numbers can be multiplied in any order and the product will be the same. For example, multiplying 3 x 12 will give you the same answer as multiplying 12 x 3. Knowing this halves the number of facts there are to learn.
Multiplication facts practice using games
When you’ve introduced a set of facts, it’s time to get your students practicing.
Learning the 0 and 1s multiplication facts is easy with ‘Fishing for Answers’.
Color printing is not a worry. Each game comes with a black ink option. Your students will be the master of their two times tables with ‘Blast Off!’.
After the two times tables, we introduce the fives. The quickest way out of this spider’s web is to correctly answer your fives facts.
Earn points as you travel ‘Round the World’. The only way to do that is to practice those tens multiplication facts!
I love teaching the nines facts. My students feel so clever when they master them and once they see the pattern they’re so easy to remember.
In ‘Courtly Capers’ you move ahead on the game board if you can answer the nines fact you’ve uncovered.
Your students have learned their 0, 1, 2, 5, 10 and 9s facts, now it’s time for the 3s and 4s.
They’ll have fun multiplying by three so they can cross the icy sea to the next ‘Iceberg’.
Practice multiplying by four to reach the ‘Bear’s Den’ to see the cub.
It would be lovely to think that all our students are learning at the same pace. But we know they’re not.
With this pack, you can group your students any way you like. There’s a small multiplication fact visual for each game so students of all ability levels can play together.
‘Feathered Friends’ provides fun multiplication practice for the 6 times tables.
By the time you’ve reached the 7s facts, your students will only have 7 x 7, 7 x 8, 7 x 11 and 7 x 12 to learn. Because of the commutative property of multiplication they already know the other multiplication facts for seven.
Students follow the code to find the number fact they need to answer when they play ‘Gumball’.
When your students reach the 11s facts they’ve probably already realized how to answer these facts so ‘Looking for Clues’ will be easy to play.
Last on the list is the 12s facts. There’s only 12 x 12 left to learn. Thanks to the commutative property all the other facts will have been mastered!
Grab some multiplication games for your classroom
Games provide a wonderful opportunity for students to get the repetitive practice they need for mastery over a skill without the boredom that comes with completing rows and rows of multiplication facts.
You can grab your pack of multiplication games from my store on Teachers Pay Teachers. Your kids will be so excited to see a game and not a worksheet!
Need fun ways to teach multiplication to 4tj graders