Build a times tables app with short timed drills, gentle feedback and a progress grid
Times tables stick through short, frequent practice that focuses on the facts a child doesn't know yet, not endless rounds of the ones they do. A good times tables app keeps sessions to a few minutes, treats mistakes kindly, and shows progress as a grid of facts going from unknown to secure. Anticode can build one that runs in the browser with no adverts, no account and no data sent anywhere: progress is saved on the device the child uses.
How children learn the facts
Most children learn the tables in a rough order: tens, twos and fives first, then threes and fours, then sixes, eights, nines, sevens, elevens and twelves. Knowing that a times b is the same as b times a halves the work, and a progress grid makes that visible: once 3 × 7 is secure, 7 × 3 lights up too.
Recall speed matters because it frees attention for harder maths later, which is why some schools test it formally in the primary years. But speed should come from familiarity, not pressure. Timers that punish slow answers tend to make anxious children guess.
Features that help, and ones that don't
| Ask for | Why |
|---|---|
| Sessions of two or three minutes | Short daily practice beats a long weekly session |
| Focus on weak facts | The app picks questions mostly from facts answered wrongly or slowly, with a few known ones for confidence |
| Gentle correction | Show the right answer and the fact again a few questions later, instead of a red cross and a buzzer |
| A 12 by 12 progress grid | Each fact coloured from not yet tried to secure, so a child can see their own progress |
| Choice of tables | Practise only the twos and fives, or everything up to twelve |
| Optional timer | A visible countdown for children who enjoy it, and an untimed mode for those who don't |
| Number pad on screen | Large buttons on a tablet, keyboard entry on a laptop |
Leave out what distracts: coins to spend in a shop, leaderboards against strangers, adverts and streak-loss warnings. A sticker for each finished session and a grid filling up are reward enough for most children.
Describe it to Anticode
"A times tables app for my eight-year-old. Choose which tables to practise. Three-minute sessions of 20 questions, mostly from facts she gets wrong or answers slowly, with a few she knows. Answer with an on-screen number pad. If she's wrong, show the correct fact calmly and ask it again later in the session. An optional visible timer, off by default. A 12 by 12 grid where each fact goes grey, amber, light green, dark green as she gets it right quickly several times. A sticker at the end of each session and a calendar of days practised. Bright but calm colours, big text. Save progress in this browser, with two child profiles."
Try a session yourself first and watch for questions that repeat too often or feedback that feels harsh, then adjust it in plain words. If a teacher would like to share it with a class, every child's progress stays on their own device, which suits home practice but means the teacher sees nothing; the app can show a summary screen a child could print or show.
Make it a game, if that helps
Some children practise more when the drill is wrapped in a game: answering to move a rocket, to fill in a picture or to beat their own best score. Ask for one mode like that alongside the plain drill, using the same weak-fact selection underneath, so the game still targets what they need. Keep competition against themselves only. See the educational game maker for more ideas.
Limits
- Progress stays on one device. Practise on a tablet at home and the school laptop won't know; clearing the browser's site data resets it.
- No class dashboard. A teacher can't see pupils' results, because nothing is sent anywhere.
- No spoken questions by default. If your child benefits from hearing questions, ask for the browser's built-in speech and test it on your device, as voices differ.
- It isn't a curriculum. It drills facts you choose; it doesn't teach the concept of multiplication from scratch.
For other subjects, see the spelling practice app and flashcard app pages.
Questions people ask
Is a times tables app better than paper practice?
It adapts to the facts a child gets wrong, which paper can't. Short sessions matter more than the medium.
Can two children use it on the same tablet?
Yes, if you ask for profiles. Each profile's progress is saved separately on that device.
Does it work offline?
It needs no network once loaded. Installed on a tablet's home screen, it opens like an app; check it in flight mode before relying on it.