Teach Kids Math Tips and Tricks

When working with new concepts it is very helpful to teach kids Math tips and tricks that will help them shorten or lessen computation time. There are some ways wherein these tricks, rhymes or shortcuts help kids to jumpstart new math concepts which can help them later when they need to use these to solve problems. Here are some tips and tricks which we find will help both you and your child/children make learning math fun and easy:


Multiplying numbers by 0, 1 and 10:

Any number multiplied by zero equals zero

    Examples:
  • 1000 x 0 = 0
  • 100,000 x 0 = 0
  • 1,000,000 x 0 = 0
  • 987,654 x 0 = 0

Any number multiplied by one equals the number itself

    Examples:
  • 1000 x 1 = 1000
  • 100,000 x 1 = 100,000
  • 1,000,000 x 1 = 1,000,000
  • 1,234,567,890 x 1 = 1,234,567,890

Any number multiplied by 10 equals the number itself with a zero added at its end

    Examples:
  • 10 x 10 = 100
  • 100 x 10 = 1000
  • 1000 x 10 = 10,000
  • 10000 x 10 = 100,000
  • 980,756 x 10 = 9,807,560

Multiplying numbers by 9

In one column write the numbers from 0 to 9 then on the second column write the numbers from 9 to 0. This will create your multiplication table of 9 without any need to memorize the table.

Using your ten (10) fingers you can always get the answer for a number multiplied by 9 by folding down the finger by which you are multiplying 9 by starting from either your left or right thumb. To illustrate: here you are multiplying 9 by 3 so counting 3 from the right thumb and folding it the resulting should be 27. How? You count the number of fingers before your folded finger which is 2 and then the number of fingers after your folded finger is 7 put them together and that will be 9 x 3 = 27. Try it yourself by multiplying 9 with other numbers from 1 to 9 other than 3!


Multiplying by 5

When multiplying 5 by an even number (2, 4, 6, 8 , 10, 12 ….) divide the even number by 2 then attach a zero (0) to this number. Note the following example:

5 x 12 = 60

    STEPS:
  • Divide 12 by 2. The answer is 6.
  • Attach a 0 to 6 (or multiply it by 10). The final answer is 60.

When multiplying 5 by an odd number (1, 3, 5, 7 , 9, 11 ….) subtract 1 from the odd number then divide the difference by 2 then attach a five (5) after the resulting number. Check the example below:

5 x 11 = 55

    STEPS:
  • Subtract 1 from 11 to get 10.
  • Divide 10 by 2. The result is 5.
  • Attach a 5 to the result. Our final answer is 55.

Try this by multiplying 5 with bigger numbers and see if the trick will still apply.

When using these tips and tricks you do not need to memorize your multiplication tables or even get a pen and paper to compute for your results. It is also fun and easy to follow the simple rules, tips or tricks that even children can effortlessly remember and follow them. Watch out for our next set of Math tips and tricks on other concepts!