Benefits of Playing Numerical Card Games on Head Start Children's Mathematical Skills

Low-income preschoolers have lower average performance on measures of early numerical skills than middle-income children. The present study examined the effectiveness of numerical card games in improving children's numerical and executive functioning skills. Low-income preschoolers (N=76) were randomly assigned to play a numerical magnitude comparison card game, a numerical memory and matching card game, or a shape and color matching card game across four 15-minute sessions. Child who played either of the numerical games improved their numeral identification skills, while only children who played the numerical magnitude comparison game improved their symbolic magnitude comparison skills. These improvements were maintained eight weeks later. The results suggest that a brief, low-cost intervention can successfully improve the numerical skills of low-income children.