3rd grade · 12 facts · multiplication

2 times table

The 2 times table is doubling, and most children can double small numbers before they ever see a multiplication sign. 2 × 6 is 6 and 6 again, which is 12. Starting from something your child already knows makes the 2s the natural first table to memorize.

It is also the table every other table leans on. The 4s are doubles of doubles, the 8s are doubles three times over, and a fact like 6 × 7 can be found by doubling 3 × 7. A child who doubles quickly has a tool for half the chart.

All 12 facts of the 2 times table

  • 2 × 1 = 2
  • 2 × 2 = 4
  • 2 × 3 = 6
  • 2 × 4 = 8
  • 2 × 5 = 10
  • 2 × 6 = 12
  • 2 × 7 = 14
  • 2 × 8 = 16
  • 2 × 9 = 18
  • 2 × 10 = 20
  • 2 × 11 = 22
  • 2 × 12 = 24

Printable practice sheet (PDF) — 24 problems: the 12 facts in order, then the same facts mixed up. The answer key is on page 2. Free to print, no sign-up.

Timed drill: the 2 times table

12 facts in a random order. A right answer within 3 seconds counts as by heart. Free, no sign-up, and nothing is saved: it all happens on this screen.

Type with the keypad or your keyboard, then press Check or Enter.

What to notice

Every answer in the 2 times table is even: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24. Ask your child to look at the last digits and they will find 2, 4, 6, 8, 0 repeating. An answer ending in 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 cannot be a 2s fact, which is a quick way to catch a slip.

Counting by 2s is often the first skip counting children learn, so the list may already be in their head as a chant. The aim now is to get from the chant to the single fact: to hear 2 × 8 and say 16 without counting up from 2.

The doubles of 11 and 12 make a nice stretch: 2 × 11 = 22 and 2 × 12 = 24. Doubling a two-digit number means doubling the tens and the ones separately, a small first taste of the multi-digit multiplication that comes in 4th grade.

How to practise at home

  • Spot doubles in everyday places: socks, shoes, the wheels on two bikes, the eyes in the room. “Four people, two eyes each, how many eyes?” is 4 × 2 with no worksheet in sight.
  • Use a mirror or a folded sheet of paper. Put five buttons on one side of the fold and let your child see the reflection: 5 doubled is 10. It makes the word double concrete.
  • Say each fact both ways round. 2 × 9 and 9 × 2 are the same fact, and learning “two nines” and “nine twos” together means part of the 9s table is done before you get there.
  • Because the 2s build on doubling, this is a good first table for the timed drill on this page: a chance for your child to feel quick before the harder tables.

Slips to watch for

  • Adding 2 instead of doubling, and answering 9 for 2 × 7. Ask “two sevens, or seven and two?” to bring the meaning back.
  • Losing the place when counting up. A child who chants 2, 4, 6, 8 to reach 2 × 8 can skip or repeat a number. That shows the fact is not memorized yet, which is fine; it tells you which facts to practise.
  • Doubling the 12 wrongly and answering 14 for 2 × 12. Split it: double 10 is 20, double 2 is 4, and 20 + 4 = 24.

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