Learning multiplication tables ought to be a lot easier — or at least a lot more fun — in the age of the iPad and iPhone. In fact, there are lots of apps that promise to happily turn your kid into a multiplication wizard, but figuring out which app to buy may be harder than running nightly flashcard drills.

That’s why I’d love someone to write a round-up of multiplication table apps, singling out the best options, running down the pros and cons, noting the price points and any in-app purchases (boo! hiss!) and suggesting which apps are likely to appeal to which kids.

It’s the kind of blog post I might be tempted to write myself. But in the spirit of liberating ideas rather than hoarding them, I’m setting this one free, and hoping it may come back to me in the form of a recommendation list. If you write that list of recommended apps, do let me know!

Meanwhile (for those of you lured in by the need for a multiplication drilling app), we’ll be working with Multiplying Acorns, which is Little Sweetie’s favourite out of the apps we’ve tried so far. Imagine Alvin and the Chipmunks decided to forswear music in favour of mathematics, and you’ll have the general idea. (And also, a better movie idea than those behind the last two Chipmunks movies.)