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Parents of young children often hear that reading aloud matters. Fewer hear the same about numbers. Yet children arrive at school with very different levels of number knowledge, and research links some of that difference to everyday talk at home. The talk that seems to matter most is simple, free and fits into ordinary moments: counting things you can both see.
What did Levine and colleagues find?
Levine and colleagues (2010) recorded parents and toddlers at home over five visits between the ages of 14 and 30 months, in a diverse sample of 44 children. The amount of "number talk" parents produced varied widely between families. That variation predicted children's understanding of the cardinal meanings of number words at 46 months (for example, knowing that the word "four" refers to sets of four things), even after accounting for socioeconomic status and other measures of parent and child talk.
A follow-up by Gunderson and Levine (2011) asked which kinds of number talk mattered. Counting or labelling sets of objects that were present and visible was related to children's later cardinal-number knowledge; other types of number talk were not. Talk about larger sets of visible objects, four to ten items, was more strongly predictive than talk about smaller sets.
These are correlational studies: they show a link, not proof that the talk caused the difference. But they point to a specific and easy habit.
What happens when families try it?
Two further studies add useful detail. Berkowitz and colleagues (2015) gave families of primary-school children a mobile app designed to bring short maths activities into the home. Children's maths skills improved within months, and the gains were largest in families where caregivers reported being anxious about maths. You don't need to love maths to help.
A 2024 study by Silver and colleagues adds a caution. In a survey of 124 families with 3- and 4-year-olds, frequent home maths activities were linked to better maths only for children who already had stronger number knowledge. In a follow-up experiment with 76 families, a number board game helped children with higher starting knowledge but made no difference for those with lower knowledge. The authors conclude that activities should be tailored to a child's current skill level. In plain terms: start where your child is, not where the activity book says they should be.
Everyday maths talk: a starter list
Following the Gunderson and Levine finding, put counting of real, visible things first, and don't stop at three.
Counting with pointing: "Let's count the steps: one, two, three, four, five, six. Six steps!" Repeating the last number answers the question "how many?"
Setting the table: "How many people are eating tonight? Let's count out the plates."
Snack time: "You have seven grapes. Let's count them. If you eat one, how many are left?"
Shopping: "Can you put five tomatoes in the bag? Let's check: count them with me."
Comparing: "Who has more cars, you or me? Let's line them up side by side."
Shapes and size: "Find something round in this room." "Which cup holds more water?"
Waiting: "Let's count how many red scooters go past before the bus comes."
Matching the talk to your child's level
Because the Silver study suggests the benefit depends on where a child starts, adjust as you go:
Just starting to count: count small groups slowly, touching each item, and repeat the final number.
Counting reliably to five: move to sets of six to ten, and ask "how many?" after you finish counting.
Comfortable to ten: add one and take one away with real objects, compare two groups, and count backwards together.
Ready for more: try simple everyday problems with coins, clocks and board games that use dice and numbered squares.
If your child gets frustrated, drop back one level. If they are bored, move up.
Keep it light
Maths talk should feel like a game, not a test. Stop when your child loses interest, and praise effort and strategies ("You touched each one as you counted, good thinking") rather than speed. You can mix languages freely; counting in the language you are most comfortable in is fine.
The same approach of asking rather than telling carries on as children grow. Our posts on encouraging curiosity at home and shared reading with young children use similar everyday conversations, and what to do when your child says they're bad at maths picks up the story at school age.
If you want to brush up on a maths idea yourself before explaining it to an older child, the Fermi Concept Library has a lesson on every concept in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and computing, each with its place in the map, so you can see what comes before and after it.
