By the end of year 4 children should be developing a wide range of strategies for working answers out ‘in their heads’. To be successful they do need plenty of practice with these strategies. One such technique is to be able to efficiently multiply 2-digit numbers by 5. Sometimes the best way to do this is to take the tens digit and multiply by 5 then do the same with the units. On other occasions it is easier to multiply the whole number by ten and then halve the answer; or, if the number is even, halve the number and multiply by ten.
This worksheet looks more closely at this .it is not always the best option, but it is ceertainly one that children should be confident with using.