What are some rhymes that help children learn multiplication facts?

One rhyme that helps children learn multiplication facts is a mnemonic device to remember that 2 X 2 = 4. It goes: “4 is very fast to do when you multiply by 2. Here’s a little good advice. Please just always double twice!” One can find this and many more strategies for learning multiplication tables in Greg Tang’s book “The Best of Times.”

One rhyme based on the "Three Little Pigs" teaches 4 X 9 and 9 X 6. The second pig builds his house of sticks, which rhymes with 36, the product of 4 X 9, while the third pig’s “nifty chore” rhymes with 54, the product of 9 X 6. This is an example of a rich learning rhyme, a teaching aid that builds on things kids already know, such as how to make rhymes and fairy tales.

An example of another kind of multiplication rhyme that keys on a rhyme for the product of the equation is: “A 4 by 4 is a big machine, I?m going to get one when I?m 16.” In “6 x 6, magic tricks, abracadabra 36,” there are three rhymes to help internalize the multiplication problem, six, tricks and 36.

The rhyme “7 and 5 went for a drive. Who?s in the back seat? It?s 35” separates the product from the factors visually and also rhymes the product three times. To vary the task of memorization, other examples rhyme on a factor rather than a product, as in: “5, 6, 7, 8; 56 = 7 x 8.” This rhyme also reinforces the mathematical equation.