The Best Free Multiplication Games To Play At Elementary School

October 5, 2023 | 8 min read

Sophie Bartlett

Multiplication games are a great way to help children practice key multiplication skills. While multiplication is first taught in 3rd grade, students learn skills that assist with multiplication throughout the entire elementary school math curriculum, right from 1st grade (doubling, and counting in 2s, 5s and 10s) up to 5th Grade (4- by 2-digit long multiplication). A key part of the multiplication content in elementary school is learning times tables – children are required to know all their tables up to 12×12 by the end of 4th Grade.

In this article, we’ve compiled a list of twelve fun multiplication games to support the development of these key skills. Most require no equipment at all, and the rest use items that can easily be sourced in any school.

How to use these multiplication games

Put ‘multiplication games’ into a search engine and the results will most likely be a plethora of online games. All of the games suggested below don’t require a computer or internet connection at all – just good old-fashioned fun! Some can be played as a whole class, some in multiplayer small groups and some in pairs.

When to use multiplication games

Multiplication games and times tables games are great as math starters, or ‘warm-ups’. They could also be used to wrap up a lesson (perhaps even as an incentive – “if you work hard enough this lesson we can play XYZ at the end”).

Fun games like these are also great for those spare 5 or 10 minutes we sometimes have before lunch, at the end of the day, or even in the middle of a lesson if you feel like the children – or even you – need a ‘brain break’!

What are the benefits of multiplication games?

A lot of the multiplication content in the curriculum – especially from 1st to 3rd Grade – is about counting in multiples, repeated addition and multiplication tables, which can all get rather repetitive. Each of these educational games is a slightly more fun way of encouraging children to practice their multiplication skills.

For more multiplication resources take a look at:

Multiplication games are especially great for those children who struggle with math. Without a pen, pencil, multiplication worksheets or formal questions, and feeling as though they aren’t going ‘traditional’ math at all, students can be learning multiplication skills in a low risk environment.

Multiplication games – Lower Elementary

1st Grade multiplication games

Game: Who’s missing? Can children identify the missing multiple?

What you need: 10 mini whiteboards

How to play:

Ask 10 children to stand at the front and write the first 10 multiples of either 2, 5 or 10 on their boards. Let’s use 2 as an example here, so each board would have every multiple of 2 from 2 – 20 written on it
Have the rest of the class close their eyes and ask one of the children at the front to step out the line – ask the rest of the children to shuffle up and close the gap
Ask the class to open their eyes – whoever can work out the multiple that’s missing can come and replace the missing child!

Make it easier:

Only use 5 children at the front (for the first 5 multiples of 2, 5 or 10)
When one of the children steps out of line, keep the gap there so it’s clearer which multiple is missing
Give children a number line (or ‘help sheet’ of some sort) to help them count the multiples

Make it harder:

As well as asking a child to step out of line, ask the rest of the children at the front to mix up so the multiples aren’t in order any more

Game: Messy doubling!

What you need: small pieces of paper (A6 or A5) folded in half; paint

How to play:

Show the children the pre-folded piece of paper under a document camera (if no document camera is available, do this with a larger piece of paper)
Ask the children to pick a number from 1-10 and choose one child to use the paint to mark that many blobs of paint/fingerprints on one side of the paper (make sure the paint is very wet! They could use a paintbrush if you’d prefer)
Encourage the children to arrange these numbers as arrays if possible – you could model this first
Fold the piece of paper so that the wet fingerprints will print on the other half of the paper. Before unfolding, ask the class to tell you how many blobs of paint will be on the piece of paper now (what is the original number doubled?)
Unfold the piece of paper to reveal the answer – whoever got it correct before the reveal can do the fingerprints for the next amount!

Make it easier:

Only use the numbers 1-10
Give the children concrete materials to help them work out what the number will be double

Make it harder:

Use numbers larger than 10
Work backwards – show the children the piece of paper already doubled/printed and ask them what the original number would have been

TSL multiplication games slide — Multiplication arrays are useful supports to teach multiplication, which is why we use them in our Third Space Learning tutoring sessions (even more effective when there’s paint and mess involved!)

2nd Grade multiplication games

Game: Trading tables

What you need: Post-it notes

How to play:

Write multiplication questions (based on the 2s, 5s, or 10s) on some Post-it notes and stick them on each child’s forehead! (or t-shirt, or ask them to hold it)
Ask the children to move around the classroom and answer the question on someone else’s forehead – once they’ve answered it correctly, they swap Post-its and continue to circulate to answer someone else’s question

Make it easier:

Children can work in pairs and ‘share’ a Post-it note

Make it harder:

Write some extension questions or word problems including multiplication problems on each Post-it (it could be marked with a star) – challenge children to answer both questions before moving on (you could put the answers on the back of the Post-it)

Game: Throwing tables! Practicing multiplication facts

What you need: inflatable or foam ball

How to play:

Write the numbers 1-12 evenly around the ball in a thick black marker pen
Ask the children to stand up and spread out around the room (or stand in a circle)
Throw the ball to a child – whichever number their right thumb lands on, or is nearest to, they have to skip count by 2, 3, 5 or 10 (whichever number you are working on)
Then throw the ball on to someone else

Make it easier:

Write the numbers 1-5 in blue (or any different color to black) and make sure they’re mixed out evenly around the numbers 6-12 on the ball. Ask the children to look for the nearest blue number and skip count that one instead

Make it harder:

Set a time limit for responses to improve fluency and speed (read about our other mental math games here!)
Include numbers higher than 12 on the ball in green (or any different color to black) and ask children to look for the nearest green number instead to use for the multiplication

Read our article on math games lower elementary for even more ideas to bring math to life in your lower elementary classroom.

Multiplication games – Upper Elementary

3rd Grade multiplication games

Game: Around the World

What you need: nothing!

How to play:

Children sit in their seats in the classroom. Have a child stand behind someone’s seat so these 2 children – let’s call them A (standing child) and B (seated child) – are in the game at a time
Ask A and B a multiplication question (by the end of 2nd grade, students have learned to skip count by all numbers except 6, 7, 9 and 12) – the first person to get it correct wins and ‘moves on’ to the next person (if it were A, they would stand behind the next child’s seat; if it were B, they would get up to stand behind the next child’s seat and A would replace B in their seat)
You could have two pairs going on at the same time – A and B on one side of the room, C and D on the other side of the room. Ask each pair one question at a time and the winner continues to ‘move on’ until all children have had a turn
If only one pair is playing at once, wait until all children have had a turn – the final person standing is the winner. This could mean that one child has defeated everyone, or that the child in the very last pair to play gave the correct answer and happens to be the overall winner just from getting one correct answer!
If two pairs are playing at once (A and B, C and D), once all children have a turn, have the two remaining children standing face off with each other to get the ultimate winner!
You can differentiate the questions as you go depending on which two children are playing at the time

Make it easier:

Ask simpler multiplication questions
Give think time (e.g. you can’t answer until I count down from 3)

Make it harder:

Set a time limit for a response (e.g. you’re both out if nobody has answered after 2 seconds)

Game: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Multiply!

What you need: nothing!

How to play:

In pairs, each child shakes one fists three times (“rock, paper, scissors”) before holding out a number from 1-5
The first person to multiply both numbers together wins a point!

Make it easier:

One person always has to hold up a 2 (just to practice the 2 times table) or a 5 (just to practice the 5 times table)

Make it harder:

Add in the option to hold up zero
Use both hands to show numbers up to 10

4th grade multiplication games

Game: Shout it out! How quickly can you recall your times tables?

What you need: A pack of cards

How to play:

Remove the Kings and Jokers from a pack of cards. Ace = 1, Jack = 11, Queen = 12 and all the other numbers are themselves
In pairs, split the pack in half and give each partner half each
Each partner draws a card and lays it on the table simultaneously – the children must multiply both numbers together
The first person to give the correct answer keeps both cards
If it’s a draw (correct answer said at the same time), children keep one card each
The person with the most cards at the ends wins

Make it easier:

Remove as many cards as necessary, e.g. all picture cards (except the Aces) to just practice 1-10 tables, etc.
Children draw the cards one at a time (so they can get their head round which ‘times table’ they will be working in once the first card is drawn)

Make it harder:

Add in Kings in to represent 13 – children should be able to work this out by adding one more multiple of the times table
Add in the Jokers to represent 0 – children often get caught out when multiplying by 0!
Keep one card down at all times – when the children draw their two cards, they have to multiply all 3 numbers together instead (the two they’ve drawn plus the one in the middle)

Game: Splat! How quickly can you identify a multiple of a times table?

What you need: nothing!

How to play:

Two children stand back-to-back with a hand on top of their head
A 3rd person (the teacher or another child) sets the multiple for the game – let’s use 7 as an example
The 3rd person calls out numbers – but not multiples of the given number. For each number that isn’t a multiple of the given number, the children take a step forward, further away from each other. For example, with 7 as our example: “13… (step)… 25… (step…) 19… (step)”
At some point, the 3rd person calls out a multiple of the given number – when the two children recognise this as a number in the times table, they have to turn around, raise their hand and shout ‘Splat!’. For example, “13… (step)… 25… (step…) 19… (step)… 21 – Splat!”
The first person to ‘splat’ their partner wins!

Make it easier:

Make the given number an easier times table (e.g. 5 or 10)
Give the children a set amount of thinking time (e.g. 2 seconds) before they’re allowed to step forward or ‘splat’

Make it harder:

Set two numbers as the multiples, e.g. 7 and 6. The children must then listen out to multiples of both numbers
Give a different instruction for a different multiple. For example, they must ‘splat’ for a multiple of 7, step forward for a non-multiple of 7 but stand still for a multiple of 5

Game: Fizz Buzz (an old classic!) Can you replace multiples of a number with a word?

What you need: nothing!

How to play:

Ask the children to stand in a circle (minimum groups of 6, maximum the whole class!)
Choose 2 numbers to be the multiples of this game. One will be ‘fizz’ and one will be ‘buzz’ – 3 and 5 work well for this, so we’ll use 3 as ‘fizz’ and 5 as ‘buzz’
Start with just the 3s – count round the circle, each child saying a number, but when it gets to a multiple of 3, that child must say ‘fizz’ instead. For example, “1, 2, fizz, 4, 5, fizz, 7, 8, fizz, 10, 11, fizz…” etc. If someone says the number instead of the word, they’re out!
Now practice with the 5s – count round the circle again but when it gets to a multiple of 5, that child must say ‘buzz’ instead. For example, “1, 2, 3, 4, buzz, 6, 7, 8, 9, buzz, 11, 12, 13, 14, buzz…” etc. Again, if someone says the number instead of the word, they’re out!
It gets tricky as we’re going to combine the two – if a number is both a multiple of 3 and 5 (a common multiple), the child must say ‘fizz-buzz’! So it should sound like this… “1, 2, fizz, 4, buzz, fizz, 7, 8, fizz, buzz, 11, fizz, 13, 14, fizz-buzz, 16, 17, fizz…” etc. This round should knock out children pretty quickly!

Make it easier:

Remove the last step (common multiples) and allow children to just say one of the words instead of both
Remove ‘fizz’ or ‘buzz’ and count round with only one multiple instead

Make it harder:

Set a time limit – if children take too long to say their number or word (e.g. more than 3 seconds), they’re out!
Add a 3rd multiple with the word ‘pop’ – in this case, you could do 2 (pop), 3 (fizz) and 5 (buzz) – this would mean that 30 would be ‘fizz buzz pop’!

Game: Area Tetris

What you need: dice, rulers, graph paper and 2 colored pencils

How to play:

In pairs, children sit either side of a piece of graph paper
Each partner takes turns to roll two dice (or one die twice) – these numbers will be the dimensions of a rectangle that they must draw on their piece of paper. For example, if a child rolled a 5 and a 3, they must draw a 5 by 3 rectangle in their choice of color on their side of the paper and write the area (15 square units) inside
They must decide the orientation and placement of the first rectangle, and each rectangle thereafter, so that no gaps are left (if possible) between any of the shapes
Their partner then repeats this – rolling the dice, drawing their rectangle and calculating the area
The game stops when there is no space left on the paper to draw any more rectangles
The winner is the person who has covered the most area with their rectangles – this can be calculated by adding all the areas together

Make it easier:

Use bigger-squared paper, or paper with fewer squares

Make it harder:

Use smaller piece of graph paper, or paper with more squares
Use dice with more than 6 sides, or ask the children to roll it more than once

5th Grade multiplication games

Game: Roll the result!

What you need: pen and paper or mini whiteboard, dice

How to play:

In pairs, each draw a 3- by 2-digit numbers column multiplication but with empty boxes, as below

Take it in turns to roll a die and choose in which place value of which number to place that digit in the multiplication
Once all 5 boxes have been filled, complete the multiplication – the person with the biggest final value wins
You could change this to make the winner the person with the smallest final value!

Make it easier:

Change it to a 3- by 1-digit multiplication (or 2- by 1-digit)

Make it harder:

Change it to a 4-by 2-digit multiplication
Use a 9-sided die

Game: Product Power!

What you need: 2 mini whiteboards and pens

How to play:

Two children stand at the front of the class back-to-back
Child A can write any number under 100 with up to 2 decimal places; child B can write any power of 10 up to 10,000. Each child writes their number on a mini whiteboard and shows the class (without seeing each other’s)
Choose a child to work out the product of the two numbers (e.g. child A writes 32.5, child B chooses 1,000, so the product is 32,500)
The first child to work out the number on their partner’s whiteboard wins!

Make it easier:

Child A can only choose a number under 10
Child A can only choose a number with 1 decimal place (or none)
Child B can only choose a power of 10 up to 1,000
Ensure a set amount of thinking time before either child can call out an answer

Make it harder:

Child A can choose a number up to 1,000
Child A can choose a number with 3 decimal places
Child B can choose a power of 10 up to 1,000,000
Set a time limit – if nobody says an answer within 3 seconds, both children are out!

See below for further math games for your classroom:

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The content in this article was originally written by primary school teacher Sophie Bartlett and has since been revised and adapted for US schools by elementary math teacher Christi Kulesza.