Multiply It! The 3 and 4 Times Tables

Imagine you have some egg boxes. Each box holds 3 eggs. If you have 2 boxes, how many eggs do you have altogether? What about 3 boxes? Count up in 3s — 3, 6, 9 — and see how far you can go in 20 seconds. Now try counting in 4s — 4, 8, 12. These skip-counting patterns are the secret behind the 3 and 4 times tables!

The multiplication sign is ×. It means 'groups of'. So 3 × 4 means '3 groups of 4'. The 3 times table counts up in jumps of 3: 1 × 3 = 3 2 × 3 = 6 3 × 3 = 9 4 × 3 = 12 5 × 3 = 15 6 × 3 = 18 7 × 3 = 21 8 × 3 = 24 9 × 3 = 27 10 × 3 = 30 11 × 3 = 33 12 × 3 = 36 The 4 times table counts up in jumps of 4: 1 × 4 = 4 2 × 4 = 8 3 × 4 = 12 4 × 4 = 16 5 × 4 = 20 6 × 4 = 24 7 × 4 = 28 8 × 4 = 32 9 × 4 = 36 10 × 4 = 40 11 × 4 = 44 12 × 4 = 48 Here is a useful tip: the 4 times table is just the 2 times table doubled! For example, 2 × 4 = 8, which is the same as 2 × 2 doubled (4 + 4 = 8). This trick helps when you get stuck. Also notice: the order does not matter! 3 × 4 gives the same answer as 4 × 3. Both equal 12. This is called the commutative property — a fancy way of saying 'you can swap the numbers and the answer stays the same'.