Hit the Button Times Tables
Practise multiplication facts with quick-fire questions. Pick a single table to drill, or mix them all — choose Easy, Medium or Hard and try to beat your score.
2× to 12× — press to start
Times tables from 2× to 12×
Fast, accurate recall of times tables is one of the biggest levers in primary maths — once multiplication facts are automatic, children have far more working memory free for the harder maths built on top of them: fractions, area, long multiplication and division. This game gives short, repeated bursts of practice rather than long worksheets, which is closer to how recall actually gets built.
Practise one table, or mix them all
Use the picker above to drill a single table — useful when one specific table (6, 7 and 8 tend to be the trickiest) is holding a child back. Leave it unselected and the game mixes questions across 2× to 12×, which is better once individual tables are solid and the goal shifts to fast switching between them.
Getting ready for the Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check?
If your child is in Year 4, or approaching it, the statutory Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) tests exactly this kind of recall — 25 questions, 6 seconds each, tables up to 12×12. Our dedicated MTC practice mode mirrors that format directly.
Each table has its own shape — worth knowing before you drill it
Times tables aren't twelve unrelated lists to memorise from scratch. Most of them have a genuine pattern that makes recall faster once a child notices it, rather than relying purely on repetition. Here's what actually helps for each one:
Swipe sideways to see the full table on a small screen.
| Table | What to notice |
|---|---|
| 2× | Every answer is even — it's just doubling. Usually the first table children become fluent in. |
| 3× | Answers go up in a steady skip-count: 3, 6, 9, 12… Digit sums of the answers are always a multiple of 3, which is a handy self-check. |
| 4× | Always double the 2× answer. A child who's solid on 2× can derive 4× without memorising it separately. |
| 5× | Every answer ends in 0 or 5 — one of the easiest patterns to spot and self-check. |
| 6× | Double the 3× answer. Also always even. |
| 7× | No shortcut pattern — genuinely the table most children find hardest, and the one worth the most dedicated practice time. |
| 8× | Double the 4× answer (or double, double, double the original number). Always even. |
| 9× | The digits of the answer always add up to 9 (18 → 1+8=9, 63 → 6+3=9) up to 9×10 — a genuinely reliable self-check trick. |
| 10× | Add a zero. Usually secure very early and rarely needs dedicated practice time. |
| 11× | For single digits, the answer repeats the digit (11×3=33). The pattern breaks after 11×9, which is worth flagging explicitly so it doesn't cause confusion. |
| 12× | Same as 10× plus double the number (12×n = 10n + 2n). Useful once 10× and doubling are both solid. |
Practically, this means 6, 7, 8 and 9 are usually where extra practice time pays off most — they have the least obvious shortcuts and the highest cognitive load. Use the single-table picker above to target exactly these rather than mixing all twelve evenly.
Common errors worth watching for
- Off-by-one-table slips — answering 7×8 with the 6×8 or 8×8 answer. This usually means the fact isn't fully automatic yet and the child is pattern-matching from a nearby fact rather than recalling directly.
- Addition instead of multiplication — answering 6×7 as 13. More common with children who learned multiplication as repeated addition and haven't yet made the full jump to recall.
- Confident but wrong on 11× and 12× — these two are memorised slightly differently from the rest (see the table above), so errors here often mean the pattern was learned but not generalised correctly past 11×9.
When are times tables actually taught?
In England's National Curriculum, times tables build progressively rather than arriving all at once: 2×, 5× and 10× are a Year 2 focus; 3×, 4× and 8× are introduced in Year 3; and by the end of Year 4 pupils are expected to have all tables up to 12×12 fluent — which is exactly what the Multiplication Tables Check assesses that same year. See our For Teachers page for the fuller year-by-year breakdown.
Frequently asked questions
Which times table should my child learn first?
2×, 5× and 10× are the standard starting point — they have the clearest patterns and the lowest cognitive load, which builds early confidence before tackling less obvious tables like 7× and 8×.
How long does it take to become fluent in a table?
It varies a lot by child, but short, frequent practice (a few minutes most days) consistently outperforms occasional long sessions for building genuine recall speed rather than "can work it out eventually" knowledge.
My child knows the table but answers slowly — is that a problem?
It's worth practising for speed specifically, not just correctness. The Multiplication Tables Check and most classroom expectations assume near-instant recall, since slow-but-correct still uses up working memory that's needed for the next step of harder calculations.