Multiplication Table

What the grid shows you

This is a standard multiplication chart: the numbers along the top row and down the left column are the factors, and every square where a row meets a column holds the product. Find 7 on the left, slide across to 8 along the top, and the cell where they meet reads 56. That is the whole method, and it is the same one printed on the times table chart taped inside most maths exercise books.

Move your pointer over any square and the tool tints the row and column leading back to it, so a child can see exactly which two numbers made that answer instead of guessing at a wall of digits. The square itself turns solid, and the full sum appears underneath the grid in large type, written out as 7 x 8 = 56. That readout is the part most children end up saying aloud, which is what makes the fact stick.

Choosing between the 10, 12, 15 and 20 grids

The size menu above the grid switches between 10 x 10, 12 x 12, 15 x 15 and 20 x 20. Pick 10 x 10 for children who are still at the start of learning multiplication, usually around Year 3 or second grade. Fewer squares means less visual noise, and the 100 facts in that grid cover most of what early worksheets ask for.

The 12 x 12 grid is the default and the one most schools use, because the English national curriculum expects fluency up to 12 x 12 by the end of Year 4, and the Multiplication Tables Check that Year 4 pupils sit draws its questions from that range. Twelves also turn up constantly in real life, in dozens, months and inches.

The 15 x 15 and 20 x 20 grids are for older children who already know their facts and are working on longer multiplication, or for anyone who wants a big multiplication chart to spot patterns in. Squares such as 13 x 13 and 17 x 17 are worth knowing for mental arithmetic, and the larger grids make the square numbers running down the diagonal much easier to see.

Patterns worth pointing out

A times table chart is far more useful when a child reads the patterns in it rather than trying to memorise 144 separate answers. The 5 column ends in 5, 0, 5, 0 all the way down. The 10 column is just the other factor with a zero after it. Every answer in the 2, 4, 6 and 8 columns is even, no exceptions. In the 9 column the digits of each answer add up to 9, so 9 x 7 = 63 and 6 plus 3 is 9.

The most useful pattern of all is the mirror. The grid is symmetrical about the diagonal, because 3 x 4 and 4 x 3 give the same answer. That property, called commutativity, halves the work: once a child knows 8 x 3, they already know 3 x 8 without learning anything new. Point at both squares and let them see the two 24s sitting in the same place either side of the line.

The diagonal itself holds the square numbers, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25 and so on, and they are worth learning early because they anchor everything around them. If a child is sure that 6 x 6 = 36, then 6 x 7 is one more six, which is 42.

Using it at home and in class

For homework, keep the chart open on a phone or tablet beside the worksheet as a reference, the way a spelling list sits next to a piece of writing. Looking an answer up is not cheating at this stage. Children who check a fact ten times generally stop needing to check it, and being allowed to look means they keep going instead of stalling on question four.

For practice, cover the screen and ask for a fact, then reveal it to check. The highlighted row and column make the correction quick, because a wrong answer usually turns out to be the neighbouring square rather than a random mistake. Two or three minutes a day works better than a long session at the weekend.

If you want a paper copy, your browser's print command will print the page as it appears, though a dedicated printable sheet handles margins more neatly. Teachers often print the 12 x 12 grid at the start of a unit and hand out a blank one later for children to fill in from memory, which is a fast way to see which rows still need work.