Times table worksheets

Times table worksheets you can make in seconds

Tick the times tables your child is learning, choose how many problems, and the maker writes a multiplication worksheet with a separate answer key. Click “New problems” and you get a completely different set, with a new key to match. That means a fresh sheet every day instead of the same page your child half-remembers from last week.

Problems are mixed in two ways. The facts are shuffled, so children cannot rely on the order of the table, and they are written both ways round, 3 × 7 and 7 × 3, so children learn that both have the same answer. Together these make the sheet a real test of recall rather than counting up a list.

Choosing which tables to include

The best worksheet covers the table being learned plus a few that are already known. Mixing in known facts keeps them fresh and builds confidence, while the new table gets most of the practice.

A practical progression:

Stage	Tables to tick
Starting out	2, 5, 10
Building up	2, 3, 4, 5, 10
Doubles	2, 4, 8
The middle tables	3, 6, 9
The harder ones	6, 7, 8, 9
All of them	2 to 12

When one stage feels easy, with almost every answer right and no counting on fingers, move to the next.

How many problems?

The maker offers 20, 30 or 40 problems. Twenty is right for most children in second and third grade, and for any child learning a new table. Thirty suits children who are fairly confident. Forty is a good stretch for fluent fourth graders or for a weekly review of all the tables. More is not better if a child gets tired: careful answers on a short sheet beat careless answers on a long one.

Using the answer key

The answer key prints on page 2. A few ways to make the most of it:

• Self-marking. Let your child mark their own sheet. Finding their own mistakes helps the right answers stick.
• Spot the pattern. If most mistakes are in one table, that is what to practise next. If they are mostly in the bigger facts, such as 7 × 8 and 6 × 9, focus there.
• Make a “tricky facts” list. Write the facts that were wrong on a sticky note and practise just those for a few days.
• Keep the key away during work. Print page 1 only, or fold the key behind.

Timed or untimed?

Timing can help fluency, but only once children know the facts. For a child still learning a table, an untimed sheet lets them think and use strategies. Once they are accurate, timing a sheet and trying to beat their own time next day can be motivating. Avoid comparing times between children, and stop timing if it makes your child anxious. In England, the Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check allows six seconds per question, which is plenty for a child who knows the facts and stressful for one who does not.

Strategies for the facts that will not stick

A worksheet shows which facts are hard; strategies help fix them.

• Use a known fact. If 5 × 8 = 40, then 6 × 8 is one more 8: 48.
• Double and double again. For the 4 times table, double twice: 4 × 7 is double 14, which is 28.
• The 9s pattern. The tens digit is one less than the number you multiply by, and the two digits add to 9: 9 × 7 = 63.
• Lean on the squares. Facts where a number meets itself tend to stick early, and their neighbours are only one group away.
• Say it in full. “Seven eights are fifty-six” is easier to remember as a sentence than as numbers.

Building a weekly routine

A routine that fits into ten minutes a day:

• Monday: learn or review a table with its printable card.
• Tuesday: a 20-problem worksheet of that table plus known ones.
• Wednesday: flashcards, sorting into “know it” and “not yet”.
• Thursday: a new worksheet, same tables, with “New problems”.
• Friday: the online practice quiz, then a treat for effort.

Most children learn a new table in one to two weeks this way.

Worksheets in the classroom

Teachers can make a different worksheet for each table group in seconds, or several versions of the same sheet so neighbours cannot copy. Each version comes with its own answer key, which makes peer marking easy. The sheets print cleanly in black and white on US Letter or A4.

More times table practice

Each table from 1 to 20 also has its own page, such as the 7 times table, with a trick for that table and three ready-made sheets. For reference, use the multiplication chart; for printing one table per page, see the printable times tables. And because division is multiplication backwards, the division worksheets are the natural next step once the tables are known.

How the problems are chosen

Each worksheet draws from every fact in the tables you ticked, from 1 times up to 12 times. The order is shuffled, and every other problem is written with the numbers swapped, so a child sees both 4 × 9 and 9 × 4 on the same page. If you choose more problems than there are facts in the tables you ticked, the facts repeat in a new order, so nothing is left out and nothing appears twice in a row. Because the shuffle and the answer key come from the same list, the key always matches the sheet exactly.

Why mixed practice works

It is tempting to practise one table in order, 1 × 6, 2 × 6, 3 × 6, because it feels successful. But reciting a table in order lets children count up rather than recall. Mixed practice, where facts from different tables are shuffled together, is harder in the moment but leads to better memory over time, because each question asks the brain to fetch the right answer without a clue from the one before. That is why this maker mixes by default.

Signs a table is really learned

A child has truly learned a table when they can answer any fact from it, in any order, within about three seconds, without counting. They should also know the reverse: if they know 6 × 7 = 42, they can tell you 7 × 6 and say that 42 ÷ 6 = 7. Checking these three things before moving on avoids gaps that show up later in division and fractions.

It also helps to revisit learned tables regularly. A table known perfectly in October can slip by December if it is never used. Ticking one or two older tables on every new worksheet keeps them fresh with no extra effort.

Making worksheets feel less like worksheets

Some children groan at the sight of a sheet of sums. A few small changes help. Let your child choose which tables to tick. Cut the sheet into strips and do one strip at a time, with a short break in between. Use a coloured pen for marking so the right answers stand out. Or turn the sheet into a race against yesterday’s score, rather than against the clock. Children who feel in control of their practice tend to do more of it, and with better attention.

For parents who learned it differently

Many parents learned times tables by chanting them in order, and that is still useful for the first stage. The difference today is the emphasis on understanding first and on mixed recall afterwards. You do not need to teach it the school’s way exactly; any method that helps your child understand and remember is a good one. If you are unsure what your child’s class is doing, a quick question to the teacher usually brings a list of the tables being covered this term, which you can then tick in the maker.

Keeping a record

A simple record turns practice into visible progress. Draw a grid with the tables 2 to 12 down the side and the days of the week across the top, and write the score from each worksheet in the box. After a couple of weeks you can see which tables are climbing towards full marks and which need another look. Children often enjoy filling it in themselves, and the record is useful to show a teacher at a parents’ evening. When every row is full of top scores, it is time to try the harder mixed sheets with all tables ticked, or to move on to division facts.

Whatever pace your child learns at, a fresh sheet with the right tables ticked, a short daily session and a little praise will get them there. Small steps, repeated often, are what make the facts stick for good.