When a child is faced with a wall of twelve times tables, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Yet the tables are not equally difficult, and the order in which you introduce them has a real effect on how quickly a child builds confidence. Teaching them in a thoughtful sequence turns an intimidating task into a series of small, winnable challenges. In this guide we set out a tried-and-tested order for learning the times tables, explain the reasoning behind each step, and show how each new table can lean on the ones a child already knows.
Multiplication facts are connected. A child who knows the two times table already knows half of the four times table, because four is simply double two. Learning in a logical order means every new table borrows strength from earlier ones, so the child is never truly starting from scratch. This reduces the amount of pure memorisation required and replaces it with understanding.
A sensible sequence also protects motivation. Early wins matter enormously to young learners. If a child masters the 2s, 5s and 10s quickly, they arrive at the harder tables already believing they can succeed. Beginning with the most difficult facts, by contrast, risks knocking a child’s confidence before they have found their feet.
These three tables are the natural starting point because they follow clear, satisfying patterns. The 10s always end in a zero, the 5s alternate between five and zero, and the 2s are simply the even numbers a child already meets when counting in twos. Because the patterns are visible, children can often work out an answer even before they have memorised it, which builds trust in the process.
Spend time here. A secure grasp of these three tables gives a child a foundation that supports everything that follows. Skip-counting aloud — two, four, six, eight — is a gentle, rhythmic way to embed them.
Once the 2s are secure, the 4s follow naturally, because four is double two. To find four times a number, a child doubles it twice. Six doubled is twelve; twelve doubled is twenty-four, so four sixes are twenty-four. This doubling strategy replaces rote learning with a reliable mental trick.
The 8 times table extends the same idea: eight is double four, so a child doubles three times in total. Teaching the 4s and 8s together lets children see the family relationship between them, which makes both easier to remember.
The 3 times table takes a little more effort because its pattern is less obvious, but it unlocks two more. Six is double three, so the 6 times table can be reached by doubling the 3s. The 9 times table has its own famous pattern: the digits of each answer add up to nine, and the tens digit counts up while the units digit counts down. Nine ones are nine, nine twos are eighteen, nine threes are twenty-seven, and so on.
Many children also enjoy the finger trick for the 9s, where you fold down the finger matching the number you are multiplying and read off the tens and units on either side. Tricks like these keep learning playful.
The 7 times table has a reputation as the hardest, largely because it lacks an obvious pattern and shares fewer easy relationships. By this stage, though, a child already knows most of the seven facts from other tables: seven times two, five and ten are covered, as are seven times three, four, six, eight and nine. In truth, only a handful of genuinely new facts remain, chiefly seven times seven.
The 11 times table is friendly again, with the tidy pattern of repeated digits up to nine elevens. The 12 times table can be tackled by splitting it into a ten times table answer plus a two times table answer — twelve sevens are seventy plus fourteen, which is eighty-four. Ending on these more approachable tables leaves children feeling capable.
Move on only when a table feels genuinely automatic, not merely familiar. A good test is speed: if a child can answer a random fact within a couple of seconds without counting, they are ready for the next step. Keep revisiting earlier tables even as you introduce new ones, because recall fades without regular use.
Our Practice Mode lets you focus on a single table at a time, which fits this sequence perfectly. Once a few tables are secure, the Mixed Quiz helps children retrieve facts in any order, which is closer to how multiplication appears in real life.
In England, children typically begin with the 2, 5 and 10 times tables in Year 2 (around age six or seven), and are expected to know all tables up to 12 by the end of Year 4. Every child develops at their own pace, so use these as guides rather than strict deadlines.
The order is a strong default, but it is not rigid. The key principles are to start easy, build on what a child already knows, and finish with the trickier tables once confidence is high. Adjust the pace to suit the individual child.
With short, daily practice most children secure all the tables over the course of a school year. Consistency matters far more than long sessions.
You can find more articles like this on the Times Table Hero blog.