Fast and Easy Math Tricks You’ll Wish You Knew Before

For lots of kids, math is hard and boring. This makes it challenging for their parents and teachers who know how important the skill is for everyday life, and want to impart these skills to their kids.

That’s where the following five tricks come in handy. They’re not only easy, but pretty much magical and fun! They’re sure to boost your kids’ self-confidence, too.

1. Multiply any two-digit number by 11

It’s easy to multiply any number from 1 to 10 by 11. But what about the bigger numbers? Let’s find out. We’ll use 36 x 11 for this example.

i. Write out the two digits of the number, with a brackets between them: 3 [ ] 6
ii: Add the two digits in the space: 3 [3 + 6 = 9] 6
ii: You’ve got your answer! The first digit is the hundreds place (300), the addition is the tens place (90), and the second digit is the units place (6). That gives you: 396!
Bonus: If a number (75, let’s say) gives an addition bigger than 9, just add its tens place digit to the first digit: 7 [7 + 5 = 12] 5; so, you’d add 7 to 1, which gives you: 825.

2. Multiply big numbers by 9

Let’s try 578 x 9.

i. Multiply the big number by 10; (add a zero, of course): 5,780
ii. Subtract the original number: 5,780 – 578 =  5,202

Simple as that!

3. Multiply by 2

To multiply by two is as simple as adding the numbers! 53 x 2, for example.

i. 53 x 2 = 53 + 53
ii. That gives you 106!

4. Square of any number that ends in 5

We all know that 52 = 25. (Simple, right? 5 x 5.) But what about bigger numbers like 752?

i. Write out the square of 5. The last two digits of the square of any number ending in 5 will be 25
ii. Multiply the first digit of the number you’re squaring with the number that follows it: 7 is followed by 8; 7 x 8 = 56
iii. Write the multiplied number before 25, and you got your answer: 5,625!

5. Adding two-digit numbers

Adding two two-digit numbers can be tricky, but here’s an easy way to do it. Let’s try 46 + 73.

i. Separate the second number into tens and units: 73 = 70 + 3
ii. That gives you a new problem: 46 + 70 + 3
ii. Perform the addition in stages: 46 + 70 = 116; 116 + 3 = 119; and that’s the answer!

With these tricks, your kids can easily solve seemingly complicated problems. They’ll be glad you taught them! If you have any easy math tricks we did not mention here, feel free to share with us.