FunKey Maths

Two 7-year-olds.

One simple task: show 3 groups of 7 and 7 groups of 3 using 1p coins.
Easy… right? 🤔

What happens next is a funny disagreement about whose coins show 3 sevens and whose show 7 threes. It’s a great question!

👉 Which way do you look at an array?
Vertically?
Horizontally?

For children just getting to grips with multiplication, arrays can be surprisingly ambiguous. One arrangement can be described in two different ways depending on how you scan it.

This little moment perfectly captures something many teachers see in the classroom: arrays make sense once multiplication is secure, but for beginners they can sometimes cause confusion.

💬 What do you think?
Do you share concerns about introducing arrays as the first representation of multiplication? If so, what do you use instead?
Or do you find they work well with younger learners?

Watch the 7 year olds debate it… and tell us:
Which way do you see the array?

Two 7-year-olds just explained the connection between
2, 7 and 14
using 1p coins. 🪙
No instructions.
No one telling them the answer.
Just a FunKey Maths card on the table showing the factors… and time to think.
Watch them:
✨ explore the connections
✨ explain their ideas
✨ work as a team
Also… please can we talk about what a great little teacher she is?! 😄
Proof that when children are given time and something concrete, they can discover powerful mathematical connections for themselves.

She got it wrong.
But then she tried again, and I love that! 💛
And then she did it once more — just for fun!

This is what real learning looks like.

Our counting masks make step counting playful — and they’re colour-coded to match our FunKey Times Table cards, helping children to make connections.

Teachers & parents — I’ve made the 2s, 5s and 10s masks available as a FREE download.

Comment “MASK” and I’ll DM you the link 💛

The step-counting PowerPoints from our viral video are available for whole-class teaching (link in bio).

Have you ever tried using a Counting Stick to teach a times table….. for me it was CHAOS 😅

Numbers upside down.
In the wrong place.
Dropped mid-count.
Children confused.
Me completely tangled.

I was a PGCE student and the legendary Jill Mansergh had just taught my whole PGCE class the 17× table in FIVE minutes. It was so powerful and I was ready and raring.

But when it came to managing the physical stick while teaching? Not so simple.

So, I created a digital version for teachers like me.

✨ All the benefits of the Counting Stick
✨ Strong visual structure
✨ Whole-class engagement

And NONE of the juggling.

With the digital version teachers can focus on the maths — not the stick.

Sometimes the best resources come from classroom disasters 💛

Want to use this in your classroom? Comment ‘YES’ to receive a DM link to our SHOP! The Step Counting PowerPoints will save you hours and your students will love them!😃

The FunKey Times Tables cards help children recall times table facts, but on top of that, they do something much more important: they help children get to grips with what the numbers mean! Without understanding, children will struggle with so many aspects of the maths curriculum.

The consistent structure of the FunKey Times Table cards helps to expose the relationship between factors and products and gives children the confidence to talk about the connections between numbers. The link between multiplication and division is easy for them to see. Commutativity is easy to see.

When children see it, their confidence rises and their learning is more secure. Seeing is learning!

✨ Visual clues that make maths make sense ✨

Did you know that the shape on the FunKey Times Table Cards gives children an instant clue about the number in the centre?

🔺 Prime numbers sit inside a kite shape
⬛ Square numbers sit inside a square

When children are learning their times tables, these visual cues help them spot patterns and recognise numbers more quickly — without having to stop and think from scratch every time.

This means:
✔️ Faster recall
✔️ Less confusion
✔️ More confidence with multiplication

The brain loves patterns, colour, and shape — and the more children play with the cards, the stronger those connections become.

Learning maths doesn’t have to be about memorising in isolation. With the right visuals, it becomes intuitive 💡

The colour coding on the FunKey Times Table Cards really helps children to recall their times table facts quickly and accurately.

Research shows that children learn times tables facts in what is called an associative network. That means when children are asked a fact, lots of possible answers can pop into their head. For some, it’s really hard to identify the right answer in amongst the sea of numbers. The colours give children a way through the numerical white noise.

The more children play with the cards the more easily they can recall facts using the colour coding as their anchor.

Why not try playing Uno with these cards? Family fun with huge educational benefits!

Ps HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE 🎉