7 times table: chart, tricks and practice

The 7 times table chart

Here are all twelve facts. The third column splits each one into a 5s fact and a 2s fact, the strategy that works for every 7. Read the rows aloud as sentences: “seven times six is forty-two.”

Most of the 7s are facts your child already knows

Thanks to the turn-around rule, 7 × 6 is the same fact as 6 × 7, so every table your child learned earlier already covers part of the 7s. In our recommended order, the 7s come after the 1s, 2s, 10s, 5s, 3s, 4s, 9s and 6s, so 8 of the 12 facts are already known.

• 7 × 1 = 7from the 1s
• 7 × 2 = 14from the 2s
• 7 × 3 = 21from the 3s
• 7 × 4 = 28from the 4s
• 7 × 5 = 35from the 5s
• 7 × 6 = 42from the 6s
• 7 × 7 = 49new · square
• 7 × 8 = 56new
• 7 × 9 = 63from the 9s
• 7 × 10 = 70from the 10s
• 7 × 11 = 77with the 11s
• 7 × 12 = 84with the 12s

already knownnewonly if your school teaches the 11s and 12s

New in the 7s: 7 × 7 = 49 and 7 × 8 = 56, plus 7 × 11 = 77 and 7 × 12 = 84 if your child's school teaches the 11s and 12s.

So the whole 7 times table comes down to two facts in the 1–10 range, plus 7 × 11 and 7 × 12 if your school teaches the 11s and 12s. Spend your practice time there.

Why the 7s feel hard (and why they aren't)

The 7s have fewer obvious patterns than the 2s, 5s or 9s. Seven can't be split into equal groups the way 4 or 8 can, so there's no doubling shortcut, and the answers don't end in a friendly digit. That's why many kids find the 7s the hardest table.

The good news is the order. We recommend learning the 7s near the end, and by then the turn-around rule has done most of the work, as the facts above show. What's left is two facts in the 1–10 range, and two tricks that handle them.

Trick 1: split 7 into 5 and 2

Seven groups is five groups plus two groups. The 5s and 2s are the easiest tables, so every 7s fact becomes two easy facts and an addition:

• 7 × 6 = 30 + 12 = 42
• 7 × 7 = 35 + 14 = 49
• 7 × 8 = 40 + 16 = 56
• 7 × 12 = 60 + 24 = 84

Schools call this the distributive property, and the Common Core uses a 7s fact as its own example (3.OA.B.5): knowing 8 × 5 = 40 and 8 × 2 = 16, you can find 8 × 7 as 40 + 16 = 56.

Trick 2: the “5, 6, 7, 8” hook

The fact kids miss most often in the 7s is 7 × 8. Here's a memory hook: write the numbers 5, 6, 7, 8 in a row and read them as “56 = 7 × 8.” It's silly, and that's why it sticks.

The square fact 7 × 7 = 49 is a good stepping stone, too. Seven rows of 7 make a perfect square, and one more row of 7 gives 49 + 7 = 56, so 7 × 8 = 56. Two hard facts, linked together.

The 7s on a calendar

A calendar is a 7 times table in disguise, because every row is one week of 7 days. In a month that starts on a Sunday, the Saturdays fall on 7, 14, 21 and 28: the first four answers in the 7s.

Use it for “how many days?” questions: 3 weeks is 3 × 7 = 21 days, and 8 weeks of summer is 8 × 7 = 56 days. Pointing down any column of a real calendar (the 5th, the 12th, the 19th) also shows that each step adds 7.

A pattern for checking answers

Look at the last digit of each answer from 7 × 1 to 7 × 10: 7, 4, 1, 8, 5, 2, 9, 6, 3, 0. Every digit from 0 to 9 shows up exactly once, and each one is 3 less than the one before (wrapping around from 1 to 8). If your child answers 54 for 7 × 8, the pattern says a 7s answer in that spot must end in 6.

Common mistakes with the 7s (and quick fixes)

• Answering 54 for 7 × 8. 54 is 6 × 9. These two get swapped a lot, so practice them side by side: 54 is six 9s, and 56 is seven 8s (“5, 6, 7, 8”).
• Answering 48 for 7 × 6. That's 6 × 8. Use the split: five 6s (30) and two 6s (12) make 42.
• Losing count after 35. Skip counting by 7s is hard to hold in your head. Jump from a landmark instead: 7 × 5 = 35, so 7 × 6 is 35 + 7.
• Mixing up 7 × 11 and 7 × 12. 7 × 11 = 77 is the repeating-digit fact, and 7 × 12 = 84 is 70 + 14.

The 7 times table in real life

The 7s mostly show up as days of the week, which makes calendars the best practice tool. Rainbows, with their 7 traditional colors, are a bonus.

Tap a story to see the answer. Ask your child to draw a quick picture first: groups, an array or a number line.

7 times table practice

Ten questions, mixed on purpose: some are turned around, and some have a missing number, like 7 × ? = 63. Tap a question to check the answer, and ask your child which trick they used. Finding a missing factor is how third graders start to think about division (3.OA.A.4).

1. 7 × 7 = ?Check

   7 × 7 = 49

2. 7 × 8 = ?Check

   7 × 8 = 56

3. 6 × 7 = ?Check

   6 × 7 = 42

4. 7 × ? = 63Check

   7 × 9 = 63

5. ? × 7 = 28Check

   4 × 7 = 28

6. 7 × 12 = ?Check

   7 × 12 = 84

7. 3 × 7 = ?Check

   3 × 7 = 21

8. 7 × ? = 35Check

   7 × 5 = 35

9. ? × 7 = 77Check

   11 × 7 = 77

10. 7 × 2 = ?Check

    7 × 2 = 14

Division facts for the 7s

Every 7s fact runs backward too. Since 7 × 8 = 56, you also know 56 ÷ 7 = 8 and 56 ÷ 8 = 7. Dividing by 7 shows up in plenty of 3rd- and 4th-grade word problems (think weeks and days), so practice both directions.

1. 56 ÷ 7 = ?Check

   56 ÷ 7 = 8

2. 49 ÷ 7 = ?Check

   49 ÷ 7 = 7

3. 63 ÷ 7 = ?Check

   63 ÷ 7 = 9

4. 42 ÷ 7 = ?Check

   42 ÷ 7 = 6

5. 56 ÷ 8 = ?Check

   56 ÷ 8 = 7

6. 84 ÷ ? = 12Check

   84 ÷ 7 = 12

Want a printed set? Our times tables worksheets and division facts worksheets come with answer keys.