Multiplication as Repeated Addition Worksheets

Multiplication as repeated addition worksheets: equal groups, groups of and times, arrays, skip counting and drawing the groups. Free PDF.

16 sheets: equal groups as addition, groups of, arrays, skip counting, draw the groups, answers

These multiplication as repeated addition worksheets come before the tables, not after them. Sheets 9 to 12 are the reason: an array of four rows of three is also three columns of four, and turning the page shows it. That is where 3 x 4 = 4 x 3 stops being a rule a child is told and becomes something they can see.

Repeated addition worksheet with equal groups of dots — Sheet 1 – add the same group again for every circle.

What is in the 18 pages

Sheets 1-4: add the equal groups, 4 + 4 + 4 written out in full.
Sheets 5-8: groups of, and times, the same picture written both ways.
Sheets 9-12: arrays, rows times columns.
Sheets 13-14: skip count on the number line.
Sheets 15-16: draw the groups for a given multiplication.
Last page: every answer, sheet by sheet.

Writing it out the long way, on purpose

The first four sheets make the child write 4 + 4 + 4 = 12 rather than 3 x 4. That looks like the slow way round and it is deliberate. Multiplication is shorthand, and shorthand only helps someone who knows what it is short for. A child who meets 3 x 4 first has a symbol with nothing behind it, which is exactly why tables learned cold fall out of memory.

Multiplication arrays worksheet, rows times columns — Sheet 9 – count the rows and the dots in a row.

Groups of, then times

Sheets 5-8 put the same picture under two labels, three groups of four and three times four. English makes this harder than it needs to be, because three groups of four and four groups of three give the same answer and are different pictures. The sheets show both and let the matching answers make the point.

Drawing the groups, last

Sheets 15 and 16 give the multiplication and ask for the picture. Every sheet before them runs picture to number, so this is the only reverse direction in the book, and it is the one that shows whether the connection goes both ways. A child who can answer 5 x 3 instantly and cannot draw it has memorised a fact without the idea under it.

Skip counting on a number line worksheet — Sheet 13 – equal jumps on a line to 30.

Class 2, or grade 2

This sits in class 2 in Indian schools and grade 2 in US schools, before the tables are drilled. Finish it first and multiplication tables 1 to 10 becomes memorising something already understood. Skip counting by 2, 5 and 10 covers the number line half in more depth, and division worksheets turn the groups round afterwards.

Printing this one correctly

In your printer dialog set Scale to 100% or Actual size, not Fit to page. Fit to page shrinks the tracing letters and they stop matching the size a child's hand is learning.

Plain paper is fine for crayons and pencils. If your child uses felt pens, 100 gsm paper stops the ink bleeding to the next sheet.