The 3 times table
The first table without an obvious pattern in its last digits, but with a secret one in its digit sums.
Play the 3 times table
Every question uses the 3s. Pick a game, answer ten, and watch the 3s grow in your garden.
Catch Thena Out
Thena has written out a times table and slipped in some mistakes. Find them, cross them out and put her right.
0 of 12 in flower. Each right-first-time answer grows a plant a little.
The 3 times table chart
Say it out loud, then cover an answer and see if it comes back. Tap any answer to hide it, and tap again to check.
| 3 × 1 | = | three times one is 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 × 2 | = | three times two is 6 | |
| 3 × 3 | = | three times three is 9 | |
| 3 × 4 | = | three times four is 12 | |
| 3 × 5 | = | three times five is 15 | |
| 3 × 6 | = | three times six is 18 | |
| 3 × 7 | = | three times seven is 21 | |
| 3 × 8 | = | three times eight is 24 | |
| 3 × 9 | = | three times nine is 27 | |
| 3 × 10 | = | three times ten is 30 | |
| 3 × 11 | = | three times eleven is 33 | |
| 3 × 12 | = | three times twelve is 36 |
How to learn the 3 times table
- 1
Add up the digits
Every answer in the 3s has digits that add to 3, 6 or 9: 12 (1 + 2 = 3), 27 (2 + 7 = 9), 36 (3 + 6 = 9). A quick way to check an answer.
- 2
Twos and one more
3 × 7 is two 7s and one more 7: 14 + 7 = 21. Children who know their 2s can always get there.
- 3
The 3s grid
Write 1 to 9 in a 3 by 3 grid, starting bottom left and going up each column. Put a 0 before each number in the top row, a 1 in the middle row and a 2 in the bottom row. Read across from the top: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27.
The pattern in the 3s
The last digit of each answer, from 3 × 1 to 3 × 12. Every digit comes once before any repeats. Look at the digit sums instead: 3, 6, 9, over and over.
- 3
- 6
- 9
- 2
- 5
- 8
- 1
- 4
- 7
- 0
- 3
- 6
When children learn it
In 3rd grade. Common Core expects children to know every product of two one-digit numbers from memory by the end of the year, so the 3s are part of that.
Every times table
Questions parents ask
How can my child learn the 3 times table?
Five minutes a day beats an hour on Sunday. Start with the facts they already know from other tables (turn 3 × 5 around and it’s 5 × 3), then learn one trick: the digits of every answer add up to 3, 6 or 9. Then play: answering from memory, again and again, is what makes facts stick, and a game makes them want to.
When do children learn the 3 times table?
In 3rd grade. Common Core expects children to know every product of two one-digit numbers from memory by the end of the year, so the 3s are part of that.
What is the hardest fact in the 3 times table?
Usually 3 × 7 = 21 and 3 × 8 = 24, because there’s no doubling shortcut. Two 7s and one more 7 always gets there.
Is the 3 times table game free?
Yes. Every game here is free, with no account, no ads and no timer. Progress is kept on this device only. Thena, the AI teacher who made them, has lessons for children that start with 3 free.
Stuck on the 3s?
Thena explains them on her board, out loud, the way your child’s school does, and answers every “why?”.
Try 3 lessons free