Division Games for Kids

How to Learn the Division Facts

To learn the division facts, start from what division means, then turn each fact into a multiplication fact your child already knows. Learn the easy ones first and leave the hard ones for last. Practice a little most days until the answers come from memory.

1. Share and group

Division answers two kinds of questions. Sharing: 12 cookies shared equally among 3 children is 4 cookies each. Grouping: 12 cookies packed 3 to a bag fill 4 bags. Both are written 12 ÷ 3 = 4. Acting out both with real things shows what the numbers mean before any fact is learned by heart.

2. Think multiplication

Every division fact is a multiplication fact turned around. For 56 ÷ 8, ask “8 times what makes 56?”: 7. For 45 ÷ 5, ask “5 times what makes 45?”: 9. Common Core standard 3.OA.B.6 teaches division exactly this way, as an unknown-factor problem. The better your child knows the multiplication tables, the less is left to learn, so practice both in our multiplication games.

3. One multiplication fact gives two division facts

7 × 8 = 56 gives 56 ÷ 8 = 7 and 56 ÷ 7 = 8. The numbers 7, 8 and 56 make a fact family of four facts: 7 × 8, 8 × 7, 56 ÷ 8 and 56 ÷ 7. Knowing one of them gives the other three, so the division facts are not a new list to learn: they are the multiplication chart read backward.

4. Learn the easy ones first

• Dividing by 2 is halving. 18 ÷ 2 = 9, because half of 18 is 9.
• Dividing by 10 uses the tens. 70 is 7 tens, so 70 ÷ 10 = 7.
• Dividing by 5 is counting in fives. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35: 35 is the seventh number, so 35 ÷ 5 = 7.
• Dividing by 4 is halving twice. For 28 ÷ 4, half of 28 is 14, and half of 14 is 7.

Then learn dividing by 3 and 9, and leave 6, 7 and 8 for last, the same order that works for the multiplication tables.

5. Know the rules for 1 and 0

A number divided by 1 stays the same: 7 ÷ 1 = 7. A number divided by itself is 1: 7 ÷ 7 = 1. Zero divided by a number is 0: 0 ÷ 7 = 0. Dividing by 0 is not possible, because no number times 0 makes 7. The games on this page have no problems with 0.

Common mistakes

• Subtracting instead of dividing. 12 ÷ 3 is not 9. Picture 12 shared into 3 equal groups to see that it is 4.
• Mixing up neighbor facts. 54 ÷ 9 = 6 and 56 ÷ 8 = 7 are easy to confuse, because 54 and 56 are close. To check, multiply back: 7 × 8 = 56, so 56 ÷ 8 is 7.
• Turning the numbers around. 3 × 12 and 12 × 3 give the same answer, but 12 ÷ 3 and 3 ÷ 12 do not. In division, the number being shared comes first.

For the methods your child's class is probably using, see our guide on how to teach multiplication, and to see why quick recall of facts matters, read about math fact fluency.

What Grade Learns Division?

In the US, children learn division in 3rd grade, usually at ages 8-9, and build on it through 6th grade:

• 3rd grade: understand division as sharing and grouping (3.OA.A.2) and as an unknown-factor problem (3.OA.B.6), and divide fluently within 100 (3.OA.C.7).
• 4th grade: divide numbers of up to four digits by a one-digit number, with remainders (4.NBT.B.6).
• 5th grade: divide numbers of up to four digits by a two-digit number (5.NBT.B.6).
• 6th grade: divide multi-digit numbers fluently with the standard algorithm, long division (6.NS.B.2).

In England, children learn the division facts together with the multiplication tables: for the 2, 5 and 10 multiplication tables in Year 2, for the 3, 4 and 8 multiplication tables in Year 3, and for all the tables up to 12 × 12 in Year 4. In Year 5 they divide numbers of up to four digits by a one-digit number with short division.

Age

8-10

US grade

Grades 3-4

Standard

Common Core 3.OA.C.7

England

Years 2-4