Finger-counting can boost child’s maths skills

Finger-counting – long dismissed as a “babyish” crutch – may actually supercharge young children’s maths abilities, a new study claims.

Researchers say teachers should stop scolding pupils for using their hands, arguing that those wiggling digits are building the foundations of stronger mental arithmetic.

The findings, from the University of Lausanne and published in Developmental Psychology, suggest finger-counting is an “important stepping stone to higher maths skills”.

The Swiss team followed 211 children aged 4½ to 7½, tracking how often they used their fingers while tackling progressively harder sums.

Contrary to classroom scepticism, the pupils who counted on their fingers early on – and naturally phased out the habit by around age seven – became the strongest mathematicians.

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