Counting on their fingers really does improve children’s arithmetic

♦ It’s a tried and tested method for counting, and now research has found that using fingers can help young children with their maths.

A new study suggests that playing finger games – such as holding up a certain number of fingers – alongside number games such as dominoes boosts youngsters’ results in counting and simple arithmetic.

Researchers said the findings could be useful for teachers in developing children’s understanding of numbers.

The study, involving 137 children aged six and seven, saw pupils divided into five groups.

One was given finger training exercises, the other played number games. Two other groups did both finger training and number exercises and the fifth was a control group that was given its usual maths lesson.

Researchers found that the two groups which did both types of games (finger and number) did around twice as well in tests after the experiment as the other groups.

Study author Professor Tim Jay, of Sheffield Hallam University, said: “This study provides evidence that fingers provide children with a ‘bridge’ between different representations of numbers, which can be verbal, written or symbolic.

“Research is showing that fingers are an important part of children’s thinking and learning.”