If you need multiplication fact practice, flashcards and timed tests are not your only option. Multiplication facts are really important in elementary math. Knowing multiplication facts by heart will give elementary students the confidence to tackle more complex problems in the future. Not only that, but they are more likely to use these facts in their everyday lives.
Unfortunately, practicing multiplication facts might get a little bit boring. Remember the endless flashcards and timed tests when you were in elementary school? It’s not just boring! They were also a source of stress and anxiety for many.
Here are several other ways things you can do for your multiplication facts practice!
Use Dice, Cards, and Dominoes to Practice Multiplication Facts
Practice multiplication facts using dice, cards, and dominoes. Here are some of my favorite things to do with them. They require little to no-prep too!
Dice
Grab a box of dice. (The 12-sided dice are the best!) Give each student a pair of dice. Have students roll the dice. Let them multiply the two numbers that come up! Tip: Place the dice in pill boxes to keep your classroom floor dice free!
Cards
Not flash cards! Use playing cards this time! Have students pull out two cards from a deck of playing cards. Have students find the product of the two cards. Tip: Don’t remove the face cards. Assign each face card a number instead.
Dominoes
Use domino tiles so students can randomly choose two numbers to multiply. Have students pick a tile of domino. Let the students multiply the numbers represented by the tile.
Play Multiplication Facts Bingo
My students absolutely love playing bingo! You can do this as a whole group or as a center.
Whole group
Call out multiplication questions and have students find the product. Let them mark their bingo cards once they know the product. They can make a pattern or you can do a block out! First student to mark all the numbers on their bingo card wins.
Center
Give your students one bingo card each and a pair of dice. Have them roll the dice and multiply the two numbers that come up. Have students mark their bingo cards once they know the product. Tip: You can place the bingo cards inside a dry-erase so you can reuse them. Also, if you need a bingo card generator, this is great!
Play Multiplication Facts Relay
This is a pretty easy game to prep. Here are the things that you’ll need:
- Hula Hoop
- Tape
- Markers
The Setup
Now, prepare the whiteboard. Using the tape, stick the hula hoop on the board. Write the numbers 1 to 12 around the hula hoop just like that of a clock. (Tip: Make the numbers in random order for a more challenging game.) Write the multiplication fact you want them to practice in the middle of the hoop. (Example: x3 or x4) This will tell the students which multiplication fact they are practicing.
The Mechanics
Now it’s time to group your students. Have them line up. Give each group one marker each. The first student in line gets the marker. The student will go to the board and answer one multiplication fact. After, the student will pass the marker to the next student. Repeat until all facts are answered. The first team to complete the facts win the game!
Use Online Multiplication Apps
- Mathigon’s Multiplication by Heart – These are not your ordinary flash cards! They are made with visual cues so your students won’t just rely on rote memorization but helps with understanding multiplication too.
- Prodigy – Register to play a game of prodigy. It is an action-adventure type of game that asks students math questions in order to make a move. Best part is, you can align your lessons to the game!
- Boom Cards – These are online digital task cards made by teachers like you! I love that they are self-checking and very engaging for students.
- Google Slides – You can make your own or you can check out my resources. I love using these specially when students are starting out with multiplication. With Google Slides, they can drag and drop pieces and interact with the slides too! Scroll to see samples of my resources.
Interactive Multiplication Facts Practice
Arrays are great visual cues to help students understand their multiplication facts. Not only that, they are great to visualize the connection between multiplication and division. Multiplication Arrays gives practice on making arrays to represent multiplication facts. They also write multiplication equations or multiplication sentences that are represented by the arrays.
Number lines are a great visual tool to introduce multiplication. Using number lines to practice multiplication facts will help your students understand the concept. My students love this product! The interactive drag-and-drop pieces on this deck makes them think that this is a game! This includes plenty of practice so your students have plenty of room to make mistakes and learn from them too!
Equal groups are best used when paired with word problems. This way, students will have more visual cues to help them solve math problems. Multiplication Equal Groups include plenty of practice in writing multiplication facts when given a model. It also has practical word problems to further help with student’s understanding of multiplication.
Need a Free Resource?
Here’s a multiplication on a number line worksheet that’s easy and fun to use! You may use them as a station. Just print these out and place them in dry erase pockets so you can reuse them. You can also give your students one copy each for extra practice!
Check out more tips on how to teach multiplication facts effectively here.