3 Free Ideas to Help Your Students Master Their Basic Multiplication Facts

Would you rather be covered in spiders than teach your upper elementary students two digit by two digit multiplication? Chances are that they are struggling so much because they haven’t yet mastered their basic multiplication facts.

Here are three free ideas to help your students to FINALLY master their multiplication facts so that they can experience success with the rest of their math units.

1) Escape Mars Digital Breakout Room

This FREE Escape from Mars review activity is a super engaging way for students to practice their multiplication facts and problem solving skills.

What I love about the problems in this digital escape room is that they show students real life situations where they might need their basic facts. This helps them to see learning their multiplication facts as something that is useful. (Beyond the fact that it will mean less suffering with the rest of their math concepts!)

Also, the problems in this free escape room incorporate a variety of division and multiplication questions so that students get used to seeing their basic facts both ways. Click HERE to have this digital escape room sent to your inbox. 

Are you new to digital escape rooms? This blog post walks you through how to use them in your classroom.

2) Play SKUNK

SKUNK is a fun math game that I introduce every year during our probability unit. However, it is also great for multiplication facts!

Here’s how the game works:

• The teacher rolls two dice.
• Students multiply the two numbers together.
• Students write the product under the “S” on their whiteboard.
• The teacher continues to roll two dice and students continue to record the products of those numbers under the “S” on their whiteboards until a one is rolled.
• After each roll, students must decide whether to try for more points on the next roll or to be out and save their points.
• If at any point, the teacher rolls a 1, any students who are “still in” the game lose all of their points from that round.
• If at any point snake eyes are rolled, any students who are “still in” the game lose all of their points from the entire game so far.
• To be “out” of the round and save their points, students must put a cap on their whiteboard marker (if you are playing with mini whiteboards).
• After a one is rolled, students move onto recording their products under the “K” column.
• Play continues like this until all 5 columns / rounds are complete.
• The student with the most points wins.

Not only is this a great game for practicing multiplication facts, but it is also fantastic for practicing addition because students need to add all of their products together.

3) Incorporate Music

My all time favourite song to teach multiplication facts is this x8 song from Numberrock! It is insanely catchy. Plus I find that the 8 multiplication table can be super tricky for students so this song is a life saver.

There you have it, 3 FREE ways to help your students FINALLY master their multiplication facts! Be sure to pin the image below so that you can find this post again next year.