-Did somebody say Spooky Day?

Actually, I heard somebody say it's not-so-spooky day, which is pretty cool.

That's a good day because not so spooky, but yet it's spooky.

It's a fun spooky!

Made me think of another type of fun spooky, which is the spooky number 9.

Some people find it spooky when it's time to multiply, like 9 times 4 and 9 times 6.

And they go, "Aaah!"

The number 9 is like, "Yo, I'm not spooky!

I'm actually very friendly."

I was thinking it would be really fun on our not-so-spooky day to have fun with the number 9 that people seem to think is so spooky just to show it's not spooky at all.

Let's have fun with number 9.

Okay?

Okay.

So, there's more than one 9s trick, but with this particular trick, you have to have your hands flat and read left to right, just like you would in a book.

All right, let's get started.

If I were doing 3 times 9, I would fold my third finger in and then count how many fingers are on each side.

Over here, I have two fingers, which would stand for 20.

On the other side, I have seven fingers, so that would mean I would have 27.

And it's true -- 9 times 3 really is 27.

Isn't that neat?

Let's try 9 times 7.

I'd have to count into my seventh finger and place it under.

Time for the trick.

All right.

I can see that there's six fingers on one side, so that reminds me of 60, and 3 on the other side.

So 63!

You might be wondering, "Is that for real?"

Yeah, it's real.

9 times 7 really is 63.

I told you it was going to be lots of fun.

And, actually, not only is it fun, I think it's interesting that that is a way that you can solve your 9s.

Because I got to tell you, honestly, I used to think nine was a spooky number until I started saying, "You know what?

9's not so bad."

And I still use that trick.

When I get stuck and I say, "Wait.

9 times 8 is..." And I have to put down my eighth finger, and I go, "Oh, yeah!

72.

Not a problem."

Now, remember, you can only use that trick for number 9.

The other numbers are kind of like, "Why can't you do that for me?"

Because it's number 9's trick, so that people don't find number 9 so spooky because it's not a spooky number.

If you like this trick, by all means use it when you get stuck on your 9s times table.

Until then, enjoy your not-so-spooky day.

See you next time.