Have you tried dice games? We roll 4 dice (so that we can get up to 12x12) and multiply the sum of 2 of them times the sum of the other two. The goal is to fill in a blank chart with all the answers before mom does.
You might also look for a game called "1-2-3-Oy!" We got it for $5.95 at a local educational game fair, though I think much of it you could do with regular cards if you wanted to. There are many ways to play, but there's one solitaire game that we're using to work on times tables with our DS7: lay out 4 or 6 (or more) cards and one goal card. There's even a set of wild cards that you decide on a value for ahead of time--DS7 chose 100!--that can make the game more or less challenging. Use multiplication and division to reach the goal card using as many of the cards in your hand as possible. You can add and subtract products as well, but you must use some multiplication or division for it to count. Then clear away the cards you used and your goal card and deal new ones to start again. (You could probably play this with more than one person, too.)
Usborne Books (and other companies, I'm sure!) also have self-checking cards that you wrap with string to select answers to math problems. The pattern the string makes tells you if you're right. I'm not explaining it very well, but the Usborne name for it is "Learning Wrap-Ups." My kids seem to like these. The 4yo is actually learning *his* times tables with it! Some days I think he's going to beat the 7yo in mastering them!
Anyway...
Studying patterns in the chart is also good for visual kids. Give my son a chart of numbers, and he can stare at it all day. Multiplication got a lot easier for him when we looked for patterns. It's like he soaked up the whole chart in one day. His interest level rose, too. He's a lot more interested in it now that he sees there are cool patterns involved.
Finally, a lot of GT kids who get the concept of multiplication aren't interested in doing the memorization work to know the facts cold. It's very common. Until they see a *reason* to put in the time and effort, they just won't learn them. Algebra problems can help. And repeated exposure in fun ways seems to work wonders. Games that require speedy recall work once they know some/most of the facts pretty well. (Don't use these too early, though, or they'll get frustrated that they can never win.)
If you find any good ideas, please share. I'm always looking for new ways to work with my DS7 on fact recall.
