How to learn the times tables in 5 minutes a day

Last updated: 17 October 2026

Your child can learn the multiplication facts in 5 minutes a day: a few new facts each day with a trick, every mistake repeated a few minutes later, and old facts reviewed on later days (1, 3, 7, 14 and 30 days later). Short daily practice works better than one long session a week. Plan a few months to make every fact up to 12 × 12 quick and sure.

Why does 5 minutes a day work?

Two simple ideas from learning research do the work. Practice spread over many days sticks better than the same practice in one long session. And answering from memory (a quiz) builds memory better than looking at the facts again. A large review of study methods rated both as the most useful ones (see Sources).

Five minutes is also short enough to stop while it is still fun. Your child ends the day wanting more, and comes back tomorrow.

What is the goal?

The Common Core math standards say that by the end of Grade 3, children should know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers. “From memory” means your child does not count: the answer comes in about 3 seconds. Many schools also expect the 11s and 12s, up to 12 × 12.

What does the 5-minute daily plan look like?

1. Find out what your child already knows. Ask two hard facts from each table, like 6 × 8 and 7 × 6. Tables your child knows can be skipped for now.
2. Learn the tables in an easy order: ×1, ×2, ×10, ×5, ×3, ×4, ×6, ×9, ×8, ×7, ×11, ×12.
3. Only 2–5 new facts a day, each with a picture and a trick. See one trick for every table.
4. Ask each new fact again a few questions later.
5. Bring every mistake back a few minutes later, on the same day.
6. Review old facts on later days: 1, 3, 7, 14, then 30 days after they were learned.
7. Stop at 5 minutes, even on a good day.

How many multiplication facts are there really?

Fewer than it looks. The 12 × 12 chart has 144 boxes, but 7 × 8 and 8 × 7 are the same fact, so there are 78 facts to learn, or 55 up to 10 × 10. The ×1, ×2 and ×10 facts are quick wins, so the real work is a few dozen facts.

How long does it take?

The first tables go fast. The hard facts (6s, 7s, 8s and 12s) need more days, because each one has to come back several times before it sticks. Most children need a few months of daily practice until every fact is quick. Skipping a day now and then is fine; skipping a week means more review.

What about speed and timed tests?

Speed comes from memory, not from rushing. Aim for right answers first; speed follows when facts come back on later days. If timers upset your child, leave them out for now. Times Galaxy has a relaxed mode with no speed goal, and its planet challenge never has a timer.

What does a 5-minute day look like in Times Galaxy?

• One mission a day, about 20 questions. New facts come with a dot picture and a trick.
• A wrong answer comes back about 4 questions later, and the mission never gets longer than shown.
• When every fact of a planet is ready, the planet challenge comes the next day: the whole table once, no timer.
• Then Zib, the alien co-pilot, goes to sleep until tomorrow. A day stays under about 28 answers.

What can parents do?

• Pick the same time every day, for example right after school or after breakfast.
• Let your child play alone. Praise the effort and the streak, not the speed.
• Once a week, look at the 12 × 12 grid in the grown-ups area: learned, mastered and the hard facts. See the guide for parents.
• Do not add extra sessions on the same day. Tomorrow's review does more than another round today.

Questions

Sources

• Common Core State Standards Initiative. Grade 3, Operations & Algebraic Thinking, standard 3.OA.C.7. thecorestandards.org
• Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266

More guides

• Year 4 multiplication tables checkWhat the MTC is, how it works and how to get ready.
• Times tables tricksOne easy trick for every table from 1 to 12.
• For teachersFree times tables practice at home: one link, no logins.
• For parentsSet up, the grown-ups area, keeping progress safe.