Easy to Use Christmas Tree Hands-On Multiplication Mat

Every year I learn something new when I’m working with my girls on math. The last few years was the idea of grouping and arrays for multiplication. It is a hard concept for some kids to understand. There are groups of numbers that make more numbers.

I showed some of this in the Winter multiplication match cards. I wanted to do a much more hands-on activity with this same idea. And that is where this Christmas Tree Multiplication Mat came from.

There are times that kids need to see and use their hands to learn. That is what this mat is all about!

Free Easy to Use Christmas Tree Hands-On Multiplication Mat - hands on look at multiplication and groups of numbers added together - 3Dinosaurs.com

What is Multiplication?

Multiplication is one of the basic math operations that kids learn.

Multiplication is the addition of equal groups together. So you would be adding groups of 2 together.

You multiply these numbers together to get an answer.

An example is 2 x 3 = 2 + 2 + 2 = 6

Christmas Tree Multiplication Printables

Every now and then, looking at 3×4 and kids have no clue what it means when working on multiplication. It means three groups of 4 or 4+4+4. All of those are different ways to make the same thing.

This set of printables, rather than just having multiplication cards, has groups of number cards. This was to change things up a bit. I wanted my girls to build the equation from the numbers.

I printed our cards on green cardstock stock paper. This makes it seasonal and fun. You could use any color you want.

To prepare this set I printed them on white cardstock and laminated all the cards. On the ornaments with the dots, I wrote in pencil the numbers on the back to help me with sorting.

After I cut the ornament number, I put a paper clip on them so they did not get mixed up. It also makes it easier to store.

The first time through we did groups without using the Christmas tree mat. We worked on groups and skip counting to the correct number. She just had one set of number cards and the matching ornaments.

Here is a look at how I set up the mats. I had a group cards at the top and matching ornament cards on the side. We also used a ultra-thin dry erase marker.

They would each add the ornaments and then write the equation at the bottom.

The fun part is you can mix up the cards and review a lot of math this way. We had fun skip counting as we added the numbers. We had tons of fun reviewing our multiplication and skip counting this way.