Times tables, at speed, with stakes
Multiplication War
Two cards each, multiply, highest product takes them. A whole times-table session that feels like a card game, because it is one.
- Players
- 2
- Time
- 10 to 15 minutes
- Ages
- 8 and up
What you need
- A standard deck of cards with the picture cards removed
How to play
- Deal it out. Remove the picture cards. Deal the rest face down, evenly. Aces count as one.
- Turn two each. Both players turn their top two cards at the same time.
- Multiply and compare. Each player multiplies their own two cards and says the product aloud. The higher product wins all four cards.
- Break a tie. On equal products, leave them, turn two more each, and take all eight.
- Finish. Play until one player holds everything, or stop at an agreed time and count.
The maths in it
Ordinary drill asks for one fact at a time. This asks for two facts and a comparison, so a child who knows 6x7 but is unsure of 8x5 finds out immediately and in a context where they want to know. Saying the product aloud is what makes it work — silent play lets a guess slide by.
Making it fit the child
Easier: Keep only the cards 1 to 5 for a child still learning the small tables, and add the higher cards in as they land.
Harder: Turn three cards and multiply all three. Or play with the picture cards in as 11, 12 and 13, which pushes past the table a child has memorised into one they have to work out.