Times table memory match game

Have fun practicing the times tables with this set of times table memory match cards.

This is a mathematical spin on the traditional game of concentration, where the aim is to place cards face down on a table and turn them over two at a time to find pairs.

Get the printable here

With the kids stuck at home in isolation I’ve been in charge of their math practice. It’s made me realise that despite all of our efforts with the colouring mandalas, the bookmarks and the spinners the girls STILL don’t know their times tables. They are in years five and six at school so it’s time they learned them.

I get it, reciting multiplication tables is boring and there are a lot of numbers to memorise. However, I really think that it’s one of those things where putting in the effort really pays off.

If you know your times tables it makes every day mental math problems easy which is a fantastic skill to have for life.

So, I decided more practice was necessary and came up with a few new games. Times table memory match is the first one I’m sharing, look out for another one next week.

Playing times table memory match

When the girls were preschoolers they loved to play concentration with picture cards.

With this version, we’ve turned the picture cards into times table question and answer cards, making the game a lot more challenging.

Not only do you need to know the answers, you need to remember where they are in the grid. The girls beat me fair and square at this because my memory is not what it used to be. Plus, I can always use a bit of times table revision myself, haha.

Flipping the cards over repeatedly helps to reinforce the numbers and commit them to memory. If your child doesn’t know the times tables yet it helps to have a print out of the answers on hand that they can refer to, it’s not really cheating if they are still learning. Then, once they’ve memorised them a bit better move on to playing without the answer sheet.

I was a bit worried that my kids would think they were too cool for memory match now that they’re big girls, but they actually enjoyed it. In fact, out of all of the times table activities we’ve come up with this is the one they seem to like most.

How to play

Print out one page of times table memory match cards and cut them up. Card stock is best for durability but paper also works if you have no card stock.
Separate the questions from the answers and shuffle each pile.
Lay out the questions in a grid on the left and the answers in a matching grid on the right.
Have each player flip over one question and one answer card. If the answer matches the question, they have a pair. If the player finds a pair they can take another turn, otherwise move on to the next player.