When it comes to mathematics, multiplication will be quite hard for a child to grasp. It needs regular practice. The child will go to school, come home, and rest and play. If you ask them to solve different types of sums with you, they will either refuse or give you an innocent and adorable look and you will let them off the hook to play. But at the back of our mind, we would wish that they would study a little more as the base built today will help them tomorrow.
To make your life easier, I have listed 10 math activities for kids that will help you teach your child multiplication and practice it. The activities are fun for them and simple enough for you to preplan. These activities can be tried every day at random as a part of playing indoor games. You can also rely on some of the online games. This will ensure that the screen time is used for something productive. If you want to know the trick to get your child to do maths, then read on and try these activities yourself!
10 Math Activities for Kids to Teach Multiplication:
1. Collecting objects
Young children like to collect objects as a hobby, and this is hence one of the easiest and best multiplication teaching methods for your child. Take some bottle caps or coins or shells, or any object that your child likes to collect. Take a post-it and write multiplication equations on it. Stick this on the object. Ask your child to give you the correct answer. If they answer correctly, the object is theirs to store in their collection.
2. Card trick
This activity can be done while having some family time. You can sit everyone together and present them each with two cards. They have to multiply the number given on those two cards. The person with the highest number wins the round. Keep a score of the rounds for deciding the winner in the end. Remember to remove king, queen, ace, joker, etc. cards.
3. Multiplication game online
While your child is having their screen time and looking for more games, you can introduce multiplication games in our KidloLand app online. The game has many fun math activities for kids from them they can easily learn multiplication. Solving many levels of multiplication equations is a simple and fun way to teach multiplication. The graphics of the game will keep your child hooked and their brain stimulated. They will get new problems every time they use this application.
You can install KidloLand on your iOS, android & kindle devices.
4. Flashcards
Prepare some flashcards with numbers ranging from 1 to 20. You can play this game during one of your child’s playdate. Sit your child and his or her friends around a table. Put two flashcards on the table. The children will be presented with two numbers which they have to multiply and find the product. When they know the answer, they have to hit the table softly. The one who does it first and answers it correctly wins and gets to keep the cards. In the end, the one with the majority cards wins.
5. Art therapy
The artistic way of teaching multiplication for your kids will be to teach individual tables. Draw a flower with 12 petals and then, draw another 12 petals above previously drawn petals. In the centre of the circle, write a number. In the first set of 12 petals, you need to write numbers 1-12 wither in an order or randomly. The child has to multiply the number in the centre with each petal and write the product on the outside or 2nd set of the petals. For every correct answer, they can color the petals with their favorite colors.
6. Multiplication sing-along app
If your child learns better by singing and repeating the tables continuously, then our multiplication app is perfect. This is one of the best activities for teaching multiplication. The children can learn tables while singing it along with the characters of the application. They can learn tables from 1 to 10. They can choose to interact with different characters for different tables.
7. Playdough
You might wonder how I can teach my child mathematics with play dough. The answer is simple: arrays. You can give them certain multiplication equations to solve. Rather than writing down the answer, they have to arrange the product in the form of an array with play dough. The array is a sequence of the objects in a row or column. You can replace play dough with buttons, M&Ms, rice, popcorn, pennies, raisins, etc.
8. Bingo
The child will draw the regular bingo game on a paper. The numbers will be from 1 to 25. Instead of you calling out random numbers, you will call out multiplication sums. They have to solve it and mark the product in their paper. You have to remember to call out only those equations that have the product number ranging from 1 to 25. You will also need 2-3 to play this game with your child to determine who the winner of the game is.
9. Tower
For this game, you will need reusable glasses and a marker. Take about 10 glasses and write multiplication equations on the cups. The answer can be written inside at the bottom of the glass. Present the glasses to the child and he or she has to make a tower with it. Before they can build it, they have to answer the question that is written on the glass. For every correct answer, they will be given a cup to build their tower.
10. Name tags
You can implement this for a day either at your house or at their school. Everyone in the house or school will be given a name tag. Instead of writing their name, they can write a multiplication equation of their choice. For that entire day, they will address everyone with the product of the multiplication numbers written on their name tag. It will be a fun day for them, but they will also learn multiplication at the same time.
Teaching your child a new skill isn’t the easiest job sometimes, but with these activities, teaching multiplication has become easier. Which of the above math activities for kids activities will you try first with your child?
You might be interested in our other article “Fun Ways to Teach Your Child Addition & Subtraction“.