Maths Matters
with Mrs Trend
Let’s Talk About Multiplication!
Multiplication is a skill students build on throughout primary school. It’s more than just times tables! Multiplication helps children understand patterns, repeated addition, arrays, and problem solving.
What is Multiplication?
Multiplication is repeated addition of equal groups. For example, 3 × 4 means 3 groups of 4, which equals 12. Understanding multiplication helps students with mental maths, problem solving, and real-life situations like sharing, grouping, and scaling amounts.
How You Can Help at Home
Multiplication facts can be tricky to master, so regular, fun practice makes a huge difference!
Times Table Call-Outs: Start with easy facts like 2s, 5s and 10s, then build up.
Skip Counting: Practise counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s while walking, driving or at dinner.
Array Hunt: Find groups of things at home (e.g. an egg carton is 2 rows of 6 eggs) and talk about how many in total.
Multiplication War: Grab out some playing cards for this fun game. Each player turns over 2 cards and multiplies them. Highest total wins!
Activities by Year Level:
Foundation–Year 2:
Practise skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s.
Group objects into equal collections and count how many.
Use songs and rhymes for counting patterns.
Year 3–4:
Learn multiplication facts fluently to 10 × 10.
Practise using arrays (rows and columns) with counters or drawings.
Solve word problems like “If one packet has 6 biscuits, how many biscuits in 4 packets?”
Year 5–6:
Use mental and written strategies for multiplying larger numbers.
Solve multi-step problems involving money, time and measurement.
Apply multiplication with decimals and in real-life contexts (e.g. “If each t-shirt costs $12.50, how much for 8 t-shirts?”)
Quick Call-Back Ideas
“What’s 4 × 5?”
“Count by 3s up to 30!”
“If each chair has 4 legs, how many legs on 7 chairs?”
A few quick questions every day build confidence fast!
— Mrs Trend and The Numeracy Team ✖️✨