A handy tool: Using fingers as a numerical representation specifically benefits lower performers in kindergarten...

Early math difficulties can stem from children's failure to link nonsymbolic and symbolic representations of number. Well-designed math games have been consistently shown to help children make this link (Balladares et al., 2024), but research using fingers as numerical representations is more mixed (e.g., Moeller et al., 2011). In the present study, 95 kindergarteners (5-7 years old; estimated demographics based on publicly available data: 81% White; 7% Hispanic/Latinx; 2% Black; 1% Asian/Pacific Islander; 9% multiracial) participated in a 2-week intervention that targeted quantitative skills through one of three approaches to math games: finger-based games, manipulative-based games, or a combination of fingers and manipulatives. There was also a nonmath control group. Across all math-based conditions, children improved significantly from pretest to posttest in measures of early numeracy. This pattern of improvement was moderated by children's initial performance; children performing at or above grade level at pretest derived the most benefit from the manipulative-based games and combined conditions, while their peers who began the study below grade-level performance saw the largest improvements in the finger-based condition. The findings add nuance to a growing literature that seeks to understand the benefits of finger-based activities or numerical games on quantitative skills in 5- to 7-year olds. We underscore the practical and theoretical importance of considering student's baseline understanding of number and argue that fingers are an especially appropriate tool for children who are at the beginning of their numeracy journey, perhaps because they embody the connection between symbolic and nonsymbolic number in a single, pared-down representation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).