Back in June, I shared some tools we were using to help my eight year old learn her times tables – 8 times tables. Today I am sharing another template which we have just started using and my daughter is loving.
This times table activity works for her as it involves one of her favourite pass times – colouring in! It is a simple activity to do, that you can extend on depending on the age of your child.
Print out a multiplication grid and have your child choose which times tables group they are going to start on, eg sevens. Then get them to colour in each square that is a multiple of seven.
As they work their way through the grid, the kids start to work out patterns and other interesting things themselves. My daughter for example worked out that as she coloured in the multiples of 7’s, they started making diagonal lines down the page. When she was colouring in the 8’s she noted that the squares could not be odd numbers.
Once they do a few times tables groups, they begin to see numbers that can be made up of a number of different combinations (factors of). We talked about how 6 x 7 and 7 x 6 naturally had the same result.
The 11 year old showed interest in the grid too and wanted to work out which number square would be coloured in more than twice (eg 12 – 1 x 12, 3 x 4, 6 x 2).
What tools do you use to help the kids learn their times tables?