Multiplication for 3rd Grade Students

3rd Grade Multiplication Overview

Multiplication is a life skill that your child must master not only to complete everyday math, but to also successfully learn division. Your child must be able to interpret the product of two factors, as well as understand how groups of objects become factors. At the 3rd grade level, your child will solve equations and word problems by fluently multiplying whole numbers within 100. It is also important that he or she learns to determine the unknown number in multiplication sentences.

Factor Fun

For this game, you will need a deck of cards, paper and pencils. Before beginning, remove all face cards from the deck. Have one player supply a number for the top of the factor tree. Deal each player five cards, with the remaining cards placed in a discard stack. Players will take turns trying to build a factor tree using the cards in their hands. If a play cannot be made using the cards in their hands, then the players must draw a card from the discard stack.

For example, if six is placed at the top of the factor tree, a six and an ace or a two and three could be played on the next level of the tree. Of course, having larger numbers at the top will allow for more playing possibilities.

Roll and Multiply

Players should take turns rolling a pair of dice to create a multiplication problem. The first player to shout out the correct answer wins a point. For instance, if a player rolls a four and a two, the first player to say 'eight' would get the point for that round. As a challenge, try rolling three dice to create more advanced multiplication problems.

Domino Multiplication

Before beginning, turn the dominoes face down on the table. Have your child turn over a domino and multiply the two numbers shown. If the answer is correct, she keeps the domino. If the answer is incorrect, the domino is returned to play. The player with the most dominoes at the end of the game wins!

Multiplication Eggs

Write numbers inside the sections of an empty egg carton. Have your child toss two dry beans into the carton sections. Then, he should multiply the two numbers identified by the beans. For instance, if one bean lands in the carton labeled 'five' and the other bean lands in carton 'seven', your child should say '5 x 7 = 35'.