Research carried out in the UK by Askyourstaff revealed that playing the dice based board game PLYT improved numeracy in seven to 13 year olds by 36 per cent.
Parents can help improve their children's numeracy skills by more than a third by playing board games with them, according to board game company PLYT.
Research carried out in the UK by Askyourstaff revealed that playing the dice based board game PLYT improved numeracy in seven to 13 year olds by 36 per cent.
Testing challenged subjects to take two tests featuring basic numeracy, such as addition and multiplication questions.
They were then given the board game to play with their parents for period of six weeks, before returning to take a second test.
It was also revealed that parents playing the game sharpened their own numeracy skills by 20 per cent.
"This was particularly true with fathers who embraced the competitive fun of the challenge and played twice as much as mothers, improving far more as a result," read a statement from the firm.
"The men who took part in the study proved to have better base skills than their female counterparts when it came to maths. They then saw an improvement of 25 per cent which was double that of the women, who upped their score by just 12.5 per cent after playing the game for the six week period."
It was also revealed that those families who played the board game at least once a week, improved their numeracy skills by almost three times more than the rest.
Ian McCartney, co-founder and creator of PLYT, said: "The flexibility of PLYT ensures that everyone is challenged regardless of their age or ability, and this research shows that the biggest improvements came when parents challenged themselves, resulting in children pushing themselves harder to beat their parents."
McCartney's co-founder, Lisa McCartney, added: "Having played this game with our children at home and working with an extensive network of schools, we have seen a marked improvement in all players' numeracy, no matter how old they are.
"What started with a makeshift board and six dice became a really enjoyable way to improve numeracy, but more importantly to have competitive fun as a family."
