16Free 2nd Grade Multiplication Worksheets

Start before multiplication. This chart asks a child to count by 2s, 5s and 10s and fill in fifteen missing numbers, six sequences in all. Skip counting is multiplication before anyone calls it that, and a child who can count by 5s already knows most of the 5s table.

Now meet the times sign. Twenty problems, all multiplying by 2 or 3, with nothing on the page but the problems and a plain frame. Restricting the whole sheet to two tables means a child is learning a pattern, not memorizing twenty unrelated facts.

The same twenty-problem 2s and 3s practice, but with a smiling star, cloud, sun and planet in the corners and a ghost, cat, cupcake and robot along the bottom. Identical math, friendlier page, which is often the difference between a sheet that gets done and one that does not.

A third pass at the 2s and 3s with a completely different set of twenty problems, set in a clean rounded typeface. Repetition is the whole game at this stage, and a fresh problem set stops a child recognizing answers by position instead of working them out.

Time to show why multiplication works. Four rows of animals, the first worked as an example, and the child counts the rows and columns and writes the matching multiplication sentence. Kittens, bunnies, pandas and pigs, with arrays from 3 by 3 up to 3 by 4.

More array practice with cars, gems, mushrooms and frogs, again with the first panel worked out. This one includes a 4 by 4 square array, which is a useful thing for a child to meet early because the rows and columns finally match.

The biggest arrays in the set, finishing with 4 rows of 6 flowers for a product of 24. Ladybugs, fish and lemons fill the other panels. By this point a child should be counting the rows and columns rather than counting every single object, which is exactly the shift arrays are meant to produce.

The first sheet with no pictures to count. Twelve mixed facts drawing on the 1s through 5s, each answer written inside a balloon outline, under a string of bunting. Short enough to finish in one sitting, which matters the first time the support comes away.

Fifteen problems in a single column of very large bold type, with lions, elephants and monkeys down the right margin. The big print and the long answer lines make this the easiest page in the set to physically work on, which is worth a lot for a child still forming numerals.

Twelve facts from the 2s through the 5s, with each answer written inside a scalloped cloud, under a border of propeller planes and a smiling sun. The child signs in as the pilot. This is the first of three themed sheets that share identical math, so the theme is the only thing that changes.

The same twelve-problem format with answers stashed inside gold coins, a treasure chest and parrot along the bottom, and a captain and crew to name at the top. The double-ringed coin is a nicer thing to write inside than a plain circle, and small details like that carry a reluctant child through a page.

The third themed variant, with pastel rainbows, a gold-horned unicorn and sparkling clouds. Twelve facts again from the 2s through the 5s. Rotating themes is the cheapest way to get a child to do the same practice three times without noticing.

Fifteen problems hidden inside a picture of a cat holding balloons. Every answer is 6, 9, 12 or 15, and the color key turns each product into a color: 6 is red, 9 is blue, 12 is green, 15 is yellow. Getting the math right is the only way the picture comes out right.

Twenty problems laid along a dotted route that winds down the page from a rocket at START to a planet flying an END flag, with smiling planets and moons as waypoints. The facts reach further here, up to 5 x 7, so it is a genuine step up from the twelve-fact themed pages.

Twenty-one facts across the 2s to the 9s in three clean columns, with the heaviest, darkest problem text of any sheet here and a title that invites a stopwatch. Nothing on the page but the problems, a name line and a double frame.

The finish line: another twenty-one facts in the same three-column layout, inside a thick bold frame. Same skill as the sheet before it, different problems and a different look, so it works as a retest a few days later without feeling like the identical page.