Remember the old game, "I'm going on a picnic and I'm going to bring _____"? The old way to play it was that a person started off the game by completing the phrase with an item beginning with the letter "A". For instance, "I'm going on a picnic and I'm going to bring an apple." The next person would repeat what the first person said and add another item beginning with the letter"B". For instance, "I'm going on a picnic and I'm bringing an apple and a banana. " The next person would have to repeat what the others said before, plus something that began with the letter "C". Such as, "I'm going on a picnic and I'm going to bring an apple, a banana, and a cantalope." And so on in alphabetical order.
Picnic Time for multiplication keeps the same basic premise- repitition and memory. However, a times table and its ending point must be decided upon before starting the game. The first person begins with the phrase "I'm going on a picnic and I'm going to bring_____." Let's say the 3x table was decided on. The first person would insert the first fact of the 3x table which is 3x0=0. For instance, "I am going on a picnic and I'm going to bring 3x0=0." The next person would repeat what the first person said plus the next multiplication fact in the times table (go in order). So, the next phrase said would be, "I'm going on a picnic and I'm going to bring 3x0=0 and 3x1=3." And so on, until the ending point is reached. (be sure it's something reasonable like 3x10=30) If someone breaks the "chain" by saying an incorrect multiplication fact, tell that person the correct fact, keep that person in the game, and start over again with the first person. When a person repeats all of the multiplication facts correctly up to the ending point, that person chooses the a different multiplication table and starts the chain with "I'm going on a picnic and I'm bringing __x0=0."