Multiplication Circle

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Taylor, if you’re reading, I love you. This post is dedicated to you. My kids might fully appreciate this, but Patrick and I are mesmerized.

If your child is working on skip counting or memorizing multiplication tables, you need one of these.  It’s especially great for visual and kinetic learners.

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First let me tell you how to make one.

  1. Gather a square piece of wood (about 8″ x 8″), 10 nails, a hammer, string, a pencil, permanent marker, and printout of a circle divided ten ways that fits on the wood with about 1.5″ clearance all the way around.
  2. Cut out the circle and place in the middle of the piece of wood.
  3. Mark the wood at the end of each line on the circle so that you have a circle made of ten dots marked on the wood.
  4. Use the marker to number the dots 0 to 9 starting at the top of the circle.
  5. Hammer a nail into each dot.

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Now for the fun part.
Tie a small loop at the end of a piece of string.  Loop it around the number that corresponds to the times table you want to illustrate.  Then wrap it around the next product in the times table.  If you’re doing the threes table, you would start at 3, then wrap around 6, 9, 12, etc. (Note:  The number at each nail marks the ones digit for a number.  For example, the “1” nail is for 1, 11, 21, etc.).  You can do it until you get back to the beginning or keep going to reinforce the pattern.
Here’s a picture of the twos table.

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If you use multiple colors of string, you can overlay multiple tables to see common factors.  This is twos and fours.

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We stapled a bag onto the back of our board for string storage. We keep our strings wrapped around cardboard spools to keep it untangled.

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If you want a more permanent visual or want to skip the board, you can use this worksheet and draw lines using a ruler.

I’d love if you come back and share any AHA! moments your kids have doing this.

 

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4 Comments

    • Aravinda,
      I think cardboard and pins will work but may not hold up as long. Let me know how it works!
      Melissa

  2. As a second geade teacher I love this. But I’m having trouble following it. I understand how to skip count the nails and wrap the string. I understand how the nail is the ones place. But how do the kids keep track of the tens place? Example: 6×5?
    Thanks!

    • Erika, We use it just as a visual to show patterns in multiplication. There are a lot of “light bulb” moments when you get to the beginning of a pattern and it starts again. Plus it gives them a kinectic activity and a little hint while they are reciting skip counting songs or times tables. We don’t really keep track of the tens or hundreds place. I hope that makes sense.

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