The 5 times table is the friendliest of the bunch: every answer ends in 5 or 0, and the clock on the kitchen wall rehearses it all day long. Plenty of children know half of it before anyone calls it multiplication.
The 5 times table up to 60
| Problem | Answer |
|---|---|
| 5 × 1 | 5 |
| 5 × 2 | 10 |
| 5 × 3 | 15 |
| 5 × 4 | 20 |
| 5 × 5 | 25 |
| 5 × 6 | 30 |
| 5 × 7 | 35 |
| 5 × 8 | 40 |
| 5 × 9 | 45 |
| 5 × 10 | 50 |
| 5 × 11 | 55 |
| 5 × 12 | 60 |
Practice round: quiz yourself
Ten shuffled questions on these facts only, with score and time:
Patterns in the fives column
The fives alternate like a light switch: 5, 10, 15, 20, ending in 5, then 0, then 5 again. Every answer is half of the matching tens fact, so the whole column is the tens column cut in half: 20 becomes 10, 60 becomes 30. With even partners the answer is a round number and its tens digit is half the partner: 5 × 8 has 4 tens, so 40. With odd partners, round down and add a five: 5 × 7 is 3 tens and a 5, so 35.
Tricks for the fives
The clock counts along. The fives jump exactly like the minute hand: 5, 10, 15, 20… A kid learning to read the clock rehearses the fives for free — and the other way round.
Ends in 5 or 0, no exceptions. Even partner → answer ends in 0 (4 × 5 = 20); odd partner → ends in 5 (7 × 5 = 35). Another built-in answer-checker.
The half-of-ten shortcut. 5 × 8 is half of 10 × 8: half of 80 is 40. For big partners this is the fastest route there is.
Common mistakes with the fives
Borrowing the tens rule. Asked 5 × 6, a child says 60 because the zero rule from the tens jumped in. The check takes a second: five sixes are half of ten sixes, and half of 60 is 30.
Drifting between 5 × 7 and 5 × 9. 35 and 45 trade places surprisingly often. Back them up with the clock: the minute hand on the 7 means 35 minutes past, on the 9 it means 45, a quarter to the hour.
An odd partner ending in 0. An answer like 5 × 3 = 10 is a counting slip, not a gap in knowledge. Remind the child of the rule: odd partner, the answer ends in 5. They can catch these on their own from then on.
The 5 times table and division
Each fact here also works backwards: 5 × 7 = 35, so 35 ÷ 5 = 7 and 35 ÷ 7 = 5. Dividing by 5 has a neat shortcut: double the number, then divide by 10. 45 ÷ 5 → 90 → 9.
| Fact | ÷ 5 | ÷ partner |
|---|---|---|
| 5 × 1 = 5 | 5 ÷ 5 = 1 | 5 ÷ 1 = 5 |
| 5 × 2 = 10 | 10 ÷ 5 = 2 | 10 ÷ 2 = 5 |
| 5 × 3 = 15 | 15 ÷ 5 = 3 | 15 ÷ 3 = 5 |
| 5 × 4 = 20 | 20 ÷ 5 = 4 | 20 ÷ 4 = 5 |
| 5 × 5 = 25 | 25 ÷ 5 = 5 | 25 ÷ 5 = 5 |
| 5 × 6 = 30 | 30 ÷ 5 = 6 | 30 ÷ 6 = 5 |
| 5 × 7 = 35 | 35 ÷ 5 = 7 | 35 ÷ 7 = 5 |
| 5 × 8 = 40 | 40 ÷ 5 = 8 | 40 ÷ 8 = 5 |
| 5 × 9 = 45 | 45 ÷ 5 = 9 | 45 ÷ 9 = 5 |
| 5 × 10 = 50 | 50 ÷ 5 = 10 | 50 ÷ 10 = 5 |
| 5 × 11 = 55 | 55 ÷ 5 = 11 | 55 ÷ 11 = 5 |
| 5 × 12 = 60 | 60 ÷ 5 = 12 | 60 ÷ 12 = 5 |
Word problems with 5
- Piano practice takes 5 minutes a day. How many minutes is that in one week? 7 × 5 = 35 minutes.
- Six children each raise one hand for a class photo. How many fingers are in the picture? 6 × 5 = 30 fingers.
- Stickers come in strips of 5. Your child buys 9 strips. How many stickers? 9 × 5 = 45 stickers.
- A nickel is worth 5 cents. How much are 8 nickels? 8 × 5 = 40 cents. Ask how many dimes make the same amount — four — and the fives meet the tens.
Games for practicing the fives
Clock face race. Point at a number on an analog clock; the child says how many minutes past the hour the minute hand would show there (on the 4 it is 20). Then flip it: you say 40, the child points to the 8.
High-five count. Every high five is five fingers. Do a string of high fives and stop suddenly: «How many fingers so far?» Siblings can join in, each extra hand adding 5.
Tally bundles. Count anything — red cars, trampoline jumps, birds on a wire — with tally marks in bundles of five. At the end count the bundles and multiply: 7 bundles mean 35.
When to learn the fives
Early, next to the twos and tens — learning to read the clock practices it anyway. A five-day starter plan, about ten minutes a day:
- Day 1. Clock face race on a real clock.
- Day 2. Tally bundles on a walk or at the window.
- Day 3. Mixed facts out of order, with the 5-or-0 check after each one.
- Day 4. Half-of-ten for the big ones: 5 × 8, 5 × 11, 5 × 12.
- Day 5. High-five count with the whole family, then the quiz twice.
Keep the rounds short and always out of order. Once the 5 times table runs smoothly, the times-tables system shows the full learning order and the six hardest facts.