Turn ordinary moments into number moments. Counting stairs, working out how many plates you need, counting down days to a birthday this stuff adds up to real practice and doesn’t feel like “maths time” at all.

Let them use fingers, freely, without rushing it. It’s tempting to push a kid past finger-counting fast, but it’s a real stepping stone, not a bad habit. They’ll drop it on their own once their number sense catches up usually sooner than you’d expect.

Play instead of assigning worksheets. Call out a number and ask what’s one more or one less. Roll two dice and add them. Do a quick “beat the clock” round. Games hold a kid’s attention in a way repetition just doesn’t.

Use rhythm for skip counting. Clapping “2, 4, 6, 8” or turning counting-by-5s into a little chant sticks a lot better than reading it off a page ever will.

Ask “how did you figure that out?” Not to check up on them hearing their own reasoning out loud actually strengthens it, and it tells you whether they understand the number or just got lucky.

Keep it short. Five or ten focused minutes, a few times a day, beats one long sit-down every time. A tired kid retains almost nothing, no matter how long you keep going.

Praise the attempt, not just the correct answer. If they say “6 minus 2 is… 5?”, try asking them to count backward and check, instead of jumping straight to “no.” Kids who feel safe getting it wrong keep trying. That’s worth more than any single right answer.