Trick To Always Remember Your Times Table (6 to 10), by MindYourDecisions on YouTube. 3 min 25 s.
- Video length
- 3 min 25 s
- Time to do it
- 10 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Hold both hands in front of you with palms facing you. Give each finger a number: thumbs are 6, index fingers 7, middle fingers 8, ring fingers 9 and little fingers 10.
To work out 7x8, touch the index finger of your left hand (7) to the middle finger of your right hand (8).
Count every finger from the touching pair down to the thumbs, on both hands. That count is the tens digit. For 7x8 it is 5, so you have 50.
Now count the fingers above the touching pair on the left hand. For 7 that is 3 fingers.
Count the fingers above the touching pair on the right hand. For 8 that is 2 fingers.
Multiply those two counts: 3 x 2 = 6. These are the ones.
Add the tens and ones: 50 + 6 = 56. So 7x8 = 56.
Repeat with other pairs, like 6x9 or 8x10, and check each answer against a written times table until the steps feel automatic.
Tips and common mistakes
The fingers that touch and all fingers below them count as tens, so you never count them one by one.
The two numbers above the touching fingers are always multiplied, not added.
This trick only works for facts from 6x6 to 10x10, so keep normal practice for the lower tables.
Check a few answers on paper at first, because a slip in the finger count is easy to miss.
Questions
Does this work for 5x7?
No. The trick is built for both numbers being 6 or higher. For facts with 5 or below, use normal recall or skip counting.
Why does the finger method give the right answer?
Each number above 5 is split into 5 plus a remainder. The tens come from the remainders added together, and the ones come from the remainders multiplied, which adds up to the correct product.
Can I use it for 10x10?
Yes. Touch both little fingers, count all ten fingers below as tens to get 100, and there are no fingers above, so the answer is 100.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
