3 times tableChart, tricks and free practice.
The 3 times table runs 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36. It is the first table with no shortcut as simple as doubling, which is why it is usually the first one children find genuinely effortful. The reliable route in is to build on the 2 times table: 3 x 7 is double 7, plus one more 7.
The 3 times table chart
- 3 × 1= 3
- 3 × 2= 6
- 3 × 3= 9
- 3 × 4= 12
- 3 × 5= 15
- 3 × 6= 18
- 3 × 7= 21
- 3 × 8= 24
- 3 × 9= 27
- 3 × 10= 30
- 3 × 11= 33
- 3 × 12= 36
Skip counting: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36
The pattern to look for
Add up the digits of any answer and you get a multiple of 3 — 27 gives 2 + 7 = 9, and 9 is in the 3 times table.
Free practice
Test the 3 times table
Question 1 of 10
How to learn the 3 times table
Double it, then add one more group
3 x 8 = (2 x 8) + 8 = 16 + 8 = 24. This turns a table your child does not know into one they already do.
Use the digit-sum check
If the digits of an answer add up to 3, 6 or 9, the answer belongs in this table. It will not tell you the answer, but it catches wrong ones fast.
Chant in threes
Skip counting out loud in a rhythm — 3, 6, 9, 12 — builds the sequence into memory before the individual facts are secure.
The fact kids miss most
3 x 7 = 21
Neither number gives an obvious pattern hook, so it has to be learned as a fact rather than derived. Practising it alongside 7 x 3 halves the work.
What to practise next
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