4. Play “unplugged” number games to help young children sharpen their number sense Research indicates that young children can improve their intuitive understanding of numbers by playing certain board games. And such intuitions really matter: When kids lack a strong grasp of “how much” different numbers really represent, they perform more poorly in school (Mazzococo 2011). You can read more about it (and get instructions for making your own game) here. In addition, young school children can practice their basic addition and subtraction facts by playing the simple — but excellent...