The drill and kill of multiplication facts can get old very quickly for students. Especially those that struggle memorizing them. Adding games into your math block will not only excite them, but provide great learning opportunities.
Here is a list of 5 multiplication games that are super easy to implement and require very little prep. A win for both the teacher and the students!
Games with Dominoes
Ordering Products
- Students choose five dominoes, turn them over, and multiply each side together.
- Order the products from least to greatest or greatest to least.
- Want to make it a game? Partners order their dominos then find the difference between their greatest number and least number. The partner with the greatest (or least) difference wins.
Multiplication War
- Students begin with dominoes face down.
- Each student chooses a domino.
- On the count of three, students turn over their domino and multiply the dots on one side by the dots on the other side. The student with the highest product wins the dominoes.
You can download the free printable with these two games and more HERE.
Multiplication War With a Deck of Cards
Do you have a deck of cards? With a simple deck of cards you will have an instant multiplication game that is a hit! The directions for playing with a deck of cards is the same as with dominoes, students just use two cards to multiply together.
You can download the above digit cards for free HERE.
Around the World
Using a set of flashcards, play a whole class game of around the world. How does this work? All students stand in a circle. The teacher chooses one student to begin. That student stands next to another. The teacher shows the flashcard, and the first student to say the product stays standing and moves to the next student. This continues until there is one student left. The one left standing is ultimately the winner. Students love this!
Multiplication Beach Ball
Take a cheap dollar store beach ball, write some multiplication facts on it, and you have multiplication beach ball. I have my students stand around the room, and they toss the ball to each other. To keep order in the room, they have to say the person's name that they are throwing it to before they throw the ball. When the student catches the beach ball, they have to solve the multiplication fact that their right thumb lands on. After finding the product, they toss it to another classmate.
Printable Partner Games
Roll-a-Product, Tic-Tac-Toe, and Roll and Solve to name a few. You can download a sample of each of these games and more HERE.
If you are looking for more multiplication ideas, be sure to check out the following!
10 Ways to Practice Multiplication Facts
Operation Math Facts
