How the cards print
- One card for each fact. 7 × 8 and 8 × 7 are the same fact, so it appears once, under the lower table. One table gives 11 cards (× 2 to × 12) and all of the 2 to 12 tables give 66. Large cards print 8 to a sheet and small cards 15.
- Two pages to a sheet. The pages alternate: the fronts of sheet 1 (7 × 8), then its backs (56), then the fronts of sheet 2, and so on. The backs are mirrored, so with two-sided printing set to flip on the long edge, each answer lands behind its question.
- Single-sided printer. Print every page, then glue each backs page to the reverse of its fronts page, turned over like the page of a book, before you cut. Or keep questions and answers as separate cards, which is what Multiplication Concentration needs.
- Cut along the dashed lines. Choose Actual size or 100%, not Fit to page, so the margins stay 0.5 inch (12.7 mm) and the cards stay the same size on every sheet.
- Bingo boards. Six boards to a sheet, each with nine different answers drawn from the products of your tables. New sheet makes a different set, and Copy link reopens the same one. Call the questions from the flash cards for the same tables.
Not sure which tables to print? 27 of the 30 entries in three published lists of the facts children get wrong most often involve the 6, 7, 8 or 9 table, and that is the set the tool starts with. The hardest times table facts page has the lists side by side.
How to play
Each game lists who plays, what you need, the steps in order, and a variation for younger and for older pupils. They are traditional games, so change any rule that does not suit your class.
Around the World
One pupil travels from seat to seat, racing each seated pupil to a fact.
- Players
- Whole class, 6 or more
- Time
- 10 to 15 minutes, lively
- You need
- A set of flash cards, questions facing the class. Chairs in a circle, or desks in rows, so that every pupil can be reached. Make the flash cards.
- Tables
- Any; then mixed 2 to 12
- Seat everyone in a circle or in rows. Pick one pupil as the traveller and stand them beside the first seat.
- Hold up one card so that only the traveller and the seated pupil can see it. The first to say the product aloud wins the round.
- If the traveller wins, they move on to the next seat. If the seated pupil wins, the two swap: the pupil who was sitting becomes the traveller, and the old traveller takes the seat.
- If both are stuck, read out the answer, slide the card to the bottom of the pile and try the same two pupils with a new one.
- Stop when a traveller has been all the way round, or when time is up. Then pick a new traveller and start again.
Younger pupils: Keep to one table, and leave a multiplication chart where a pupil who freezes may look once.
Older pupils: Use the mixed set of 2 to 12, or turn the cards over: read the answer and ask for a fact that makes it.
Buzz
The class counts round the room, and a multiple of the chosen number becomes a buzz.
- Players
- 4 to 30, in a circle or in rows
- Time
- 5 to 10 minutes, lively
- You need
- Nothing. A whiteboard is handy for listing the multiples.
- Tables
- One table at a time; the 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9 tables are the best fit
- Choose a table, say the 7s, and have pupils stand in a circle or in a row.
- Count round the group, one number each: 1, 2, 3 and so on.
- When a pupil's number is a multiple of the chosen number, they say "buzz" instead. For the 7s that gives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, buzz, 8 and so on.
- A pupil who says the number instead of "buzz", says "buzz" on the wrong number, or freezes for three seconds sits down.
- Carry on until the count has passed 12 times the chosen number (84 for the 7s), then choose a new table.
Younger pupils: Write the multiples on the board first (7, 14, 21 and so on), or have pupils clap on a multiple instead of saying "buzz".
Older pupils: Choose two tables: "fizz" for the multiples of one, "buzz" for the other, and "fizz buzz" where they meet (12, 24 and 36 for the 3s and 4s).
Flashcards at the Door
Pupils earn their way through the door by answering a card, at the start or end of a lesson.
- Players
- Whole class, one pupil at a time
- Time
- 2 to 5 minutes, quiet
- Tables
- The tables you are teaching now, plus a few older ones
- Pick the cards to use: this week's table and a few from tables the class already knows.
- Stand at the door as the class lines up to come in or go out. Hold up one card as each pupil reaches you.
- A right answer is the pass. Say well done and move on to the next pupil.
- A wrong answer, or none, is not a fail: the pupil steps aside to think or check a chart, and goes to the back of the line with the same card.
- Put the cards that caused trouble in a separate pile, and use that pile first next time.
Younger pupils: Choose the card for each pupil: a table they know, or the next table on from it.
Older pupils: Give a three-second limit, or ask for a matching division fact after the answer (56 for 7 × 8, then 56 ÷ 8).
Multiplication Bingo
You call a question, and pupils cover its answer on their board.
- Players
- Whole class; a board for each pupil or pair
- Time
- 10 to 20 minutes, lively
- You need
- Bingo boards (make them below), counters (chips) or scraps of paper to cover squares, and the flash cards for the same tables to call from. Make the bingo boards.
- Tables
- Two or more tables, so that the boards differ; all of 2 to 12 works
- Give each pupil or pair a different board. Different boards mean that several pupils do not call bingo at once.
- Shuffle the flash cards and keep the answers to yourself.
- Read out one question, say "six times seven", and put the card in a discard pile.
- Pupils work out the answer. Anyone with 42 on their board covers it.
- The first pupil with three covered squares in a row, across, down or corner to corner, calls "bingo" and reads out the three questions. You check them against the discard pile.
- Clear the boards and play again, this time for a full board.
Younger pupils: Use the 2 to 5 tables, and have pupils say each answer aloud, or check it on a chart, before covering.
Older pupils: Call the answers instead of the questions. A pupil covers a square only by naming a fact that makes it, such as 3 × 8 or 4 × 6 for 24.
Multiplication War
Each player turns over two playing cards and multiplies them; the higher product wins.
- Players
- Pairs
- Time
- 5 to 10 minutes, lively
- You need
- A pack of playing cards for each pair, with the kings and jokers taken out. An ace counts as 1, a jack as 11 and a queen as 12.
- Tables
- Mixed 1 to 12; take out the jacks and queens to stay within 10
- Shuffle the pack and deal it out evenly. Each player keeps a pile face down.
- At the same moment, both players turn over their top two cards.
- Each player multiplies their own two cards and says the product aloud.
- The higher product wins all four cards. If the products are equal, each player turns over two more cards, and the higher product takes all eight.
- If the pair disagree about a product, check it on a multiplication chart before moving on.
- Play until the piles run out or time is up. The player with more cards wins.
Younger pupils: Turn over one card each and multiply it by a number the pair agreed on beforehand, say 4, so a whole game practises one table.
Older pupils: Turn over three cards each and multiply all three; take the jacks and queens out first to keep the products manageable.
Multiplication Concentration
Turn over two cards at a time, looking for a question and its answer.
- Players
- 2 to 4 pupils
- Time
- 10 minutes, quiet
- You need
- Question cards and answer cards for the same facts. Print the flash cards single-sided and cut the fronts and backs apart as separate cards. Make the flash cards.
- Tables
- One or two tables at a time, using 8 to 12 facts
- Choose 8 to 12 facts. Pull out their question cards and their answer cards and shuffle them all together.
- Lay the cards face down in rows, where everyone can reach.
- The first player turns over two cards, one after the other, and shows them to the group.
- If the cards are a question and its answer, such as 7 × 8 and 56, the player keeps the pair and takes another turn.
- If not, both cards go back face down in the same places, and the next player has a go.
- When every card has gone, the player with the most pairs wins.
Younger pupils: Use six facts, and lay the questions in one block and the answers in another, so that every turn picks one of each.
Older pupils: Add cards from a second table, so that some answers match two questions (3 × 8 and 4 × 6 both make 24) and either one scores.
Swat the Answer
Two pupils race to hit the right answer on the board.
- Players
- Two teams, two pupils at the board at a time
- Time
- 10 to 15 minutes, lively
- You need
- A board or wall with the answers written or stuck up in scattered places, two soft swatters or rolled-up paper, and the flash cards to read the questions from. Make the flash cards.
- Tables
- One table at a time, or two tables together
- Write the answers of the table you are practising on the board in scattered places. Two tables together make a longer list, so leave out any answers the class has not met.
- Split the class into two teams in two lines. The first pupil in each line stands at the board, an arm's length back, holding a swatter.
- Read out one question from a card.
- The first pupil to hit the right answer scores a point for their team. Both go to the back of their lines and the next two step up.
- The first team to reach 10 points wins. Rub out (erase) each answer as it is hit if you want the board to empty as you go.
Younger pupils: Use the 2, 5 and 10 tables only, and have the pupils say the question aloud before they swat.
Older pupils: Read the question as a division ("56 divided by 8") or with a missing number ("7 times what is 56?").
Fact Family Relay
Teams race through a stack of cards, writing the whole fact family for each.
- Players
- Teams of 4 to 6
- Time
- 10 to 15 minutes, lively
- You need
- For each team, the same stack of flash cards, question side up, and a mini whiteboard or a sheet of paper with a pen. Make the flash cards.
- Tables
- Any two tables the class knows, such as the 6s and 7s, once division has been met
- Split the class into teams. Give each team the same stack of cards at the front of the room, and a board or sheet at the other end.
- Teams line up. On "go", the first pupil takes the top card to the board and writes its fact family. For 7 × 8 that is 7 × 8 = 56, 8 × 7 = 56, 56 ÷ 7 = 8 and 56 ÷ 8 = 7.
- The pupil hands the pen to the next in line, who reads what was written and corrects any mistake before adding the family for the next card.
- Carry on until a team has used its whole stack.
- Check the boards against the cards. The first team to finish with every family right wins; a team that finishes with mistakes loses a point for each.
Younger pupils: Write only the two multiplication facts for each card (7 × 8 and 8 × 7).
Older pupils: Add a word problem written from the last card in the stack, such as "8 bags with 7 apples in each".
Beat the Clock
One partner shows the cards, the other answers them against a timer.
- Players
- Pairs
- Time
- 5 to 10 minutes, quiet
- You need
- A set of 12 to 20 flash cards for each pair, and a timer: a sand timer, a phone or the classroom clock. Make the flash cards.
- Tables
- Any two tables; choose the facts your class finds hardest
- One partner is the holder and keeps the answer side of the cards facing themselves. The other is the answerer.
- Start the timer. The holder shows the first card and the answerer says the product.
- A right answer puts the card on a done pile. A wrong or slow answer, or a pass, sends the card to the bottom of the deck after the holder says the answer.
- Stop the timer when the deck is empty. The holder writes down the time.
- Swap roles, then play again with the same deck and try to beat your own time.
Younger pupils: Count how many cards are right in one minute instead of racing through the whole deck.
Older pupils: Set a target for each card, say three seconds, and only cards answered inside it go on the done pile.
About these games
These are traditional classroom games. Teachers have passed them on and changed them for generations, so there is no official set of rules and none of them is ours. We describe each one in our own words, the way it is usually played, so that you can run it from this page alone.
The flash cards and bingo boards are made by this site's generator, and the site's tests check that every card's answer is the product on its front and that every fact of the chosen tables has a card. The wording is British (pupils, counters, rub out), with the US word given once where it differs.
Changelog
- September 30, 2026. First release: nine classroom games, printable flash cards for the 2 to 12 tables (large or small, fronts and backs, US Letter or A4, with cut lines) and bingo boards.
By Rai Ansar · Updated September 30, 2026. How pages are made