The Japanese multiplication trick

Mastering multiplication is a challenge for many kids because, let's face it, multiplication tables are boring. Learning 4x3 is 12, 4x4 is 16 and so on is no one's idea of fun. Especially not a child's! As a homeschooling parent I've had a lot of trouble with multiplication as my son simply refuses to learn by heart all the numbers in the table. I know he is bright enough to do it, but he refuses. He'd rather add 4+4+4=12 and waste a lot more time than just learn the multiplication tables. I even tried posting the tables besides his desk, hoping he'll get used to them. It didn't work.
The answer to my prayers came from a completely unexpected source – his very precious Youtube and one of the guys he's subscribed to. The guy posted a video on a Japanese multiplication method I've never heard of in my life. For a properly-schooled brain like mine it's to much of a bother, as the tables have been drilled into my mind when I was seven. For my son, it was super fun!
Using this cool trick you can do whatever multiplication you need to do without memorizing the tables and having a great time drawing and counting dots.

Source
This colorful example shows you how you can easily multiply two numbers 13 and 12 drawing parallel lines.
13 is represented as a blue line standing for 1 and three red lines for 3. Similarly 12 is a green line for 1, plus two pink lines for 2. You don't even have to add anything, just count the number of times the parallel lines cross, in each of the three zones, starting from the left. You get 1, 5 and 6 dots in the three zones. Therefore, the answer to 13x12 is 156!
Things get a bit trickier when using bigger numbers, but nothing a mind determined not to memorize multiplication tables cannot handle!
How to easily multiply even three digit numbers is explained in this video

Warning: Letting your children spend too much time on this guy's channel might result in them coming to you with all sorts of crazy ideas – like 'let's make an apple rose'! Unfortunately, we were out of apples that day so we never got to test that particular trick.

Nine times the fun!

Just one more thing in defense of using tricks to teach math.

The only multiplication table my son found interesting is that of 9. What caught his attention particularly was the fact that the products are reversed. 09 – 90, 18 – 81, 27 – 72 and so on. So, even though it is a larger number he mastered it easier than learning the multiplication table for 3!
Not to mention that the products digits go from 0 to 9 and 9 to 0 or the fact that the sum of the digits is always 9. That's fun too, but for some unknown reason he loved the reverse principle!